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Alice B. Chittenden Biography
Wild flower painter, Alice Chittenden, was born October 14, 1859 in Brockport, New York. Her family moved to San Francisco while she was a baby, and it remained her home for the rest of her life. She attended the California School of Design winning honors in drawing in 1877 and 1878. In 1879 Chittenden won the school's Avery Silver Medal in oil painting.

Alice Chittenden briefly married Charles P. Overton in 1886. The couple had one daughter. While continuing her painting career, Chittenden taught at the California School of Design from 1897 to 1940.

Famous for her Wild flower oil paintings, Chittenden painted over 350 varieties in 256 studies. She also painted portraits usually in pastels and landscapes mostly of Marin County, California.

Alice Chittenden died October 13, 1944 in San Francisco, California.

Member: SFAA; SF Women Artists; Sketch Club (SF).

Exhibited: School of Design, 1879 (silver medal); SFAA from 1879; Expo. of Art and Industries (SF), 1891 (gold medal), 1893 (silver medal); Calif. State Fair, 1891 (silver medal); World’s Columbian Expo (Chicago), 1893 (silver medal); Calif. Midwinter Int'l Expo, 1894; Mark Hopkins Art Inst., 1898, 1906; Bohemian Club, 1898; Lewis & Clark Expo (Portland), 1905 (silver medal); Société des Artistes Français (Paris), 1908 (award); Schussler Gallery (SF), 1908 (solo); Alaska-Yukon Expo (Seattle), 1909 (award); Del Monte Art Gallery, 1909-12; Golden Gate Park Museum, 1916 (solo); Stanford Art Gallery, 1918, 1922 (solos); SFMA, 1935; GGIE, 1939.

In: Oakland Museum; San Jose and San Mateo County Historical Museums; Episcopal Divinity School (SF); Society of Calif. Pioneers (six portraits); Boalt Law Hall (UC Berkeley); Academy of Sciences (Golden Gate Park); Shasta State Historical Museum; State Museum Resource Center (Sacramento); CHS.

Source: "An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the American West" by Phil Kovinick and Marian Yoshiki-Kovinick; Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940