Hudson, Grace Carpenter
(1865-1937)

Grace Carpenter Hudson
Born California, 1865
Died California, 1937

Grace Carpenter Hudson was born in Potter Valley California. In her early teens she headed to San Francisco to study at the School of Design with Virgil Williams and Raymond Yelland. In 1890 she married John Hudson who was a Pacific Coast ethnologist for the Field Museum and a researcher on the language and art of the Pomo Indians. Immersed in their culture, Hudson began to specialize in painting the Indian children she spent so much time with.

Her oils chronicled the Pomo culture and are of great historical value. In addition to the Pomos she spent several months painting the native children of Hawaii. In 1904 Hudson was commissioned by the Field Museum, to paint portraits of Pawnee Indians in Oklahoma. The commission included painting chiefs and elders. Though older tribal members were often suspicious about having their images recorded, because of her long-term relationship with her Native neighbors in Ukiah Hudson was able to gain their trust. Hudson gained fame for her specialized art and was a frequent contributing artist and illustrator to periodicals such as Sunset, Cosmopolitan, and Western Field.

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