Kate Freeman Clark, a privileged daughter of Southern aristocracy, left her Holly Springs, Mississippi home for New York in the early 1890's, bent upon using her talents to become something more than a "commonplace girl." Accompanied by her mother, a widow, she came under the tutelage of William Merritt Chase, America's most famous art master of the day. In time, she came to be known as one of the
most accomplished of Chase's disciples and was ensconced in the innermost circle of his vast student following. Adopting the professional name "Freeman Clark" to conceal her gender, she exhibited canvases in prestigious shows throughout the country. Just before the First World War, however, events – both public and private – began to conspire against her, and by 1923, though at her peak, she abandoned her easel and returned to her ancestoral home in the South, never to paint again. Unmarried and without close kin, "Miss Kate" – as the home folks always called her – feared that she and her family would be forever forgotten after her death. To prevent their lives from slipping into this oblivion, she bequeathed for the enjoyment of the people of Holly Springs, a part of her estate, including the many hundreds of paintings and sketches she had produced, and plans for creating a "museum of fine and social arts" to house them. Cynthia Grant Tucker
"Kate Freeman Clark: A Painter Rediscovered"
