# Constance Forsyth

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{{Short description|Artist, printmaker, and professor of art}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Constance Forsyth
| image              = 
| alt                = 
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = 
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1903|08|18}}
| birth_place        = [Indianapolis](/source/Indianapolis), Indiana
| death_date         = {{death date and age |1987|01|22 |1903|08|18}}
| resting_place      = [Crown Hill Cemetery](/source/Crown_Hill_Cemetery) and Arboretum Section 39 Lot 298
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|39.8183284|-86.165859|type:landmark|display=inline}}
| occupation         = Artist, teacher
| website            = 
}}

'''Constance Forsyth''' (1903–1987) was an American artist, teacher, and printmaker. Her work is in the permanent collections of several museums, including the [Blanton Museum of Art](/source/Blanton_Museum_of_Art) and the [Indianapolis Museum of Art](/source/Indianapolis_Museum_of_Art).

==Early life and education==
Forsyth was born on August 18, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1946-01-20 |title=Constance Forsyth opens first one-man show at Laguna Gloria |pages=3 |work=The Austin American |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103659095/constance-forsyth-opens-first-one-man/ |access-date=2022-06-13}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Kovinick |first=Phil |url=http://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo0000kovi |title=An encyclopedia of women artists of the American West |date=1998 |location=Austin  |publisher= University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-79063-6 |pages=96–97}}</ref> She was the middle child born to her parents, the artist [William Forsyth](/source/William_Forsyth_(artist)) and Alice (Atkinson) Forsyth.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Newton |first=Judith Vale |url=http://archive.org/details/skirtingissuesto0000newt |title=Skirting the issue : stories of Indiana's historical women artists |date=2004 |location=Indianapolis  |publisher= Indiana Historical Society Press |isbn=978-0-87195-177-9}}</ref>{{Rp|page=220}}

Forsyth attended [Shortridge High School](/source/Shortridge_High_School)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-02-05 |title=Constance E. (Connie) Forsyth |url=https://staging.indyencyclopedia.org/constance-e-connie-forsyth/ |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=indyencyclopedia.org |language=en-US}}</ref> and then [Butler University](/source/Butler_University) in Indianapolis, where she earned a B.A. in chemistry in 1925,<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=222}} Forsyth began formal painting instruction at the [John Herron Art Institute](/source/Herron_School_of_Art_and_Design),<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Constance Forsyth |url=https://artcloud.com/artist/constance-forsyth |access-date=2022-06-14 |website=artcloud |language=en-us}}</ref> where she studied with [Helene Hibben](/source/Helene_Hibben).<ref>{{Cite news |date=1956-03-04 |title=Constance Forsyth's show now at salon |pages=103 |work=The Indianapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103736560/constance-forsyths-show-now-at-salon/ |access-date=2022-06-14}}</ref> She subsequently studied at the [Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts](/source/Pennsylvania_Academy_of_the_Fine_Arts), where she was introduced to grease crayons as a drawing material,<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=223}} and the [Broadmoor Art Academy](/source/Colorado_Springs_Fine_Arts_Center)<ref name=":2" /> where she studied under [Boardman Robinson](/source/Boardman_Robinson) and John Ward Lockwood.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Morehouse |first=Lucille E. |date=1940-09-07 |title=Constance Forsyth to teach in Texas |pages=5 |work=The Indianapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103736490/constance-forsyth-to-teach-in-texas/ |access-date=2022-06-14}}</ref>

==Career==
Forsyth first worked as an instructor at the John Herron Art Institute,<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=223}} [Western College for Women](/source/Western_College_for_Women), and the [University of Texas at El Paso](/source/University_of_Texas_at_El_Paso).<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Dry |first=Margaret Taylor |date=1974-01-13 |title=Bold works complement delicate ones in show |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103736261/bold-works-complement-delicate-ones-in-s/],[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103736261/bold-works-complement-delicate-ones-in-s/] |work=Austin American-Statesman |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103736261/bold-works-complement-delicate-ones-in/ |access-date=2022-06-14}}</ref> While at the John Herron Art Institute, she organized her students' work in Indianapolis,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Morehouse |first=Lucille E. |date=1935-05-19 |title=Children's Art Exhibition in Herron Sculpture Court |pages=6 |work=The Indianapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103658960/childrens-art-exhibition-in-herron/ |access-date=2022-06-13}}</ref> though she and her father were part of a group of people who were fired and then allowed to return on a part-time basis.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Warkel |first=Harriet G. (Harriet Garcia) |url=http://archive.org/details/herronchronicle0000wark |title=The Herron chronicle |date=2003 |location=Bloomington |publisher=Herron School of Art, IUPUI, in association with Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-34237-9}}</ref>

In 1940, she moved to the [University of Texas in Austin](/source/University_of_Texas_at_Austin) where she established a printmaking program,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Symmes |first=Marilyn |date=2008 |title=Review of Paths to the Press, Print-Making and American Women Artists, 1910-1960 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20358149 |journal=Woman's Art Journal |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=52–55 |issn=0270-7993 |jstor=20358149}}</ref><ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=225}} and was part of a cohort of artists joining the university at that time.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Douberley |first=Amanda |date=2007-08-24 |title=Making the scene |language=english |work=The Austin Chronicle |url=http://archive.org/details/The_Austin_Chronicle-2007-08-24}}</ref> With supplies limited because of World War II, she made projects work with limited supplies.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=|pages=225–226}}In 1973, Forsyth was promoted to professor emeritus.<ref name=":3" />

Forsyth is known for her printmaking and her watercolors.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Akhtar |first=Suzanne |date=July 25, 1999 |title=Two women flourished as artists despite obstacles in the early 1900s - Newspapers.com |language=en |work=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103736414/two-women-flourished-as-artists-despite/ |access-date=2022-06-14}}</ref> She is known for her semiabstract explorations of natural forms like as waves, mountains, and, particularly, clouds.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Morehouse |first=Lucille E. |date=1939-04-30 |title=Art |pages=19 |work=The Indianapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103736353/art/ |access-date=2022-06-14}}</ref> Her subjects included outdoor scenes, such as ''Westcliffe, Colorado'' that was shown in the World's Fair in New York in 1939.<ref name=":4" /> 
She helped [Thomas Hart Benton](/source/Thomas_Hart_Benton_(painter)) with the Indiana murals for the [Century of Progress](/source/Century_of_Progress) exposition in Chicago in 1933.<ref name=":0" /> Forsyth also worked as an illustrator for two books: Charles Garrett Vannest's ''Lincoln the Hoosier: Abraham Lincoln's Life in Indiana'' (1928)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vannest |first=Charles Garrett |url=http://archive.org/details/lincolnhoosierab00vann |title=Lincoln the Hoosier : Abraham Lincoln's life in Indiana |date=1928 |publisher=St. Louis : Eden Publishing House |others=University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign}}</ref> and Esther Buffler's ''The Friends'' (1951).<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/sim_bulletin-of-the-center-for-childrens-books_1951-12_5_4 |title=Bulletin of the Children's Book Center 1951-12: Vol 5 Iss 4 |date=1951 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |language=English}}</ref> Forsyth's work is in the permanent collection at the Blanton Museum of Art,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Constance Forsyth |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/forsyth-constance |website=Blanton Museum of Art}}</ref> the [McNay Art Museum](/source/McNay_Art_Museum),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Constance Forsyth (American, b.1903, d.1987) |url=https://collection.mcnayart.org/persons/1190/constance-forsyth-american-b1903-d1987 |access-date=2022-06-13 |website=McNay Art Museum |language=en}}</ref> the Indianapolis Museum of Art,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Indianapolis Museum of Art Collection: Constance Forsyth |url=http://collection.imamuseum.org/results.html?query=%22Constance+Forsyth%22&has_image=T&name=Forsyth,%20Constance |access-date=2022-06-14 |website=collection.imamuseum.org}}</ref> and the [Dallas Museum of Art](/source/Dallas_Museum_of_Art).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Evening Sky - Constance Forsyth |url=https://www.dma.org/object/artwork/3246303/ |access-date=2022-06-13 |website=Dallas Museum of Art |language=en}}</ref>

Constance Forsyth died on January 22, 1987.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=TSHA {{!}} Forsyth, Constance |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/forsyth-constance |access-date=2022-04-09 |website=www.tshaonline.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1987-01-25 |title=Obituary for Constance Forsyth (Aged 73) |pages=66 |work=The Indianapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103659187/obituary-for-constance-forsyth-aged-73/ |access-date=2022-06-13}}</ref>

== Awards and honors ==
Awards won by Forsyth include the Naomi Goldman prize and the Even Clendenin prize from the [National Association of Women Artists](/source/National_Association_of_Women_Artists).<ref name=":3" /> The Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery acknowledged her efforts with a combined retrospective with William L. Lester in 1974, one year after her retirement.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1974-01-20 |title=Retired artists in show |pages=29 |work=Corpus Christi Caller-Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103659427/retired-artists-in-show/ |access-date=2022-06-13}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> On March 22, 1985 the Printmaker Emeritus Award was granted to her by the Southern Graphics Council in appreciation of her excellent achievements in the profession.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" />

== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Forsyth, Constance}}
Category:1903 births
Category:1987 deaths
Category:Artists from Indianapolis
Category:20th-century American women artists
Category:Shortridge High School alumni
Category:Butler University alumni
Category:20th-century American printmakers

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Constance Forsyth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Forsyth) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Forsyth?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.