Born: 1881, United States
Died: 1964
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Margaret Gove
The following is republished from HistoryLink.org, in line with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The six founders of Women Painters of Washington were Myra Albert Wiggins (1869-1956), Elizabeth Warhanik (1880-1968), Lily Norling Hardwick (1890-1944), Dorothy Dolph Jensen (1895-1977), Anna B. Stone (1869-1950), and Helen Bebb (1878-1947), who acted as an administrator and was not an active painter.
Some of the charter and early members of WPW were also noteworthy within the arts community both locally and nationally. Three were among the earlier Modernists of the region. Margaret Gove Camfferman (1881-1964) was originally from Rochester, Minnesota, and attended art school there before going to New York to study with Robert Henri (1865-1929). After her 1914 marriage to artist Peter Camfferman (1890-1957), she relocated with her new husband to Langley, Whidbey Island, Washington, where they remained for the rest of their lives.
The Camffermans dedicated their entire life to making art and teaching. Their international travels exposed them to many of the Modern movements of their time. In 1932, she and Peter studied in Paris with the influential painter Andre L’hote (1885-1962) whose Cubist style had a lasting influence. The Camffermans’ property, dubbed “Brackenwood,” included a group of small studio’s to accommodate visiting artists
They taught generations of students and hosted local and internationally known artists such as Amedee Ozenfant (1886-19-66) and Alexander Archipenko (1887-1964), visiting instructors from the University of Washington. Camfferman, like many women married to other artists, subjugated her own ambition to promote her husband’s career. Nine years older than Peter and a more seasoned artist at their meeting, she nevertheless continued to paint and exhibit locally and nationally.