Grace Vibberts

Grace Chamberlain was born in New Britain, Connecticut on March 9, 1878 to Judge Valentine Burt Chamberlain (1833-1893) of New Britain and Anna Isabel Smith Chamberlain (1847-1921). She attended the New Britain Normal School and taught kindergarten for one year before marrying Frank Gerald Vibberts (1878-1954), a banker, in 1900.

Unlike the other founders of the Connecticut Women Artists who had all studied art when they were young, Vibberts did not begin painting until she was 40 years old. She then studied with Guy Wiggins (1883-1962) at the Lyme Art Colony, Sanford Low (1905-1964) the first director of the New Britain Museum of American Art (NBAA), and Walter Korder (1891-1962) a West Hartford painter and teacher.

In 1929 she participated in the founding of the Hartford Women Artists, showing two paintings, “Autumn Glow” and “The Landmark”. Her paintings were often singled out for individual praise in the Hartford Courant reviews of the exhibitions. In 1936 the Courant critic Theodore H. Parker said: “Special mention should be made of two paintings by Grace Vibberts, ‘Road to the Village’ and ‘Selah Hart House’. Their technical handling, especially in the actual treatment of paint, their taste in the best traditional manner, their crispness, make them outstanding in the exhibit.”

She began showing with the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts in 1930 and became a juror in 1931. She participated in a show at the NBMAA in 1930 with Margaret Cooper (1874-1965) and Virginia Hart Low (1902-1991), Sanford Low’s wife and Vibberts’ cousin. In 1937, she became the first artist to be featured in a solo show there, in 1987 the museum celebrated its 50th anniversary with another solo show of her works, and in 2001 she was included in a show titled “Women Artists of New Britain”. In a June 24, 2001 review of that show in the Hartford Courant, Owen McNally observed, “her success (as a painter) had more to do with her own will and independence than with her wealth and position.” Vibberts and her husband were major supporters of the museum and she often donated paintings to be sold to raise money for the museum. In 1931 she participated in a group show at the Hartford Town and County Club.

The Vibberts’ summered at Harthaven on Martha’s Vineyard that became a summer art colony and included artists such as Vibberts, Virginia Hart Low, Louis Fusari (1902-1986), Sanford Low, James Cagney (1899-1986 , Walter Korder, and Irving Katzenstein (1902-1973).

She was also a member of the Connecticut Watercolor Society, the Society of Hartford Painters and Sculptors, the Artist’s Club of Hartford, the New Britain At League, and the National Association of Women Painters.

Vibberts died in New Britain on February 4, 1945.

Several of her works are in the collection of the NBMAA. Her family holds many more and maintains a website, gracechamberlainvibberts.com, that includes many images of her paintings.

Sources:

Ancestry.com: ancestors, census information, residences, foreign travel, descendants

Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts Exhibition Catalogues 1910-1925, Auerbach Library, Wadsworth

Atheneum

Family memorabilia

Gracechamberlainvibberts.com

Hartford Courant Archives: 11/15/1900, 2/10/1935, 11/24/1935, 2/9/1936, 1/30/1938,

1/18/1942, 2/5/1945, 11/9/1954,

New Britain Museum of American Art, Archives, catalogues for 1937 and 1987 Exhibitions

Samlow.com, and personal correspondence from Sam Low

Secretary’s Records of the Women Painters and Sculptors of Hartford (1929-1934), Connecticut

Historical Society

Treasurer’s Reports of the Women Painters and Sculptors of Hartford (1929-1934), Connecticut

Historical Society

Wellman, Lindsley, Women Artists of New Britain, NBAA Exhibition, 2001, Cooper, Vibberts

Women Painters and Sculptors of Hartford, Exhibition Catalogues 1929-1933, Connecticut Historical

Society

© 2016 Gary W. Knoble