Jaques, Bertha E.

American, 1863-1941

BiographyBertha E. Jaques was a self-taught artist who created works in etching and photography of landscapes, flowers, and plants. She worked as a poet until the early 1890s, when she discovered the medium of etching at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Jaques, along with a small group of her fellow etchers, founded the Chicago Society of Etchers in 1910 to revive and popularize the medium in the United States. During this time, she also began to experiment with cyanotype photography, which involves placing an object on a sensitized piece of paper or cloth and exposing it to light, causing a reaction that creates the recognizable shade of Prussian blue. As seen in Orange Blossoms Sent in a Letter from California, in the Museum of Contemporary Photography permanent collection, Jaques utilized this medium to document unique botanical findings on her foreign and domestic travels and contribute to the conservation efforts of the Wildflower Preservation Society.

Bertha E. Jaques was born in Covington, Ohio, but primarily lived and worked in Chicago. Between her first print in 1894 and her last in 1939, Jaques created over 400 unique images. She was methodological in her approach, carefully recording the results of her artistic experiments resulting in precise, almost scientific renderings of her subjects. Her photographs and interest in technological experimentation recall the works of Anna Atkins (1799-1871), who created the first ever photography book, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions (1843). Jaques gave regular lectures, touring the United States from 1913-1917 to speak on her process and to encourage women to develop an artistic practice. During her lifetime, her work was primarily exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago. She is held in the permanent collections of Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Iowa; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; and Art Institute of Chicago.