1874 - 1961
From a family of professional and amateur artists, including her grandfathers William Swain and George Oakley, Violet Oakley's formal education supplemented the training she received at home and on her frequent copying trips to Europe. She attended classes intermittently at the New York Art Students League, as a student of J. Carroll Beckwith, Irving R. Wiles, and perhaps John Twatchman. In 1895, she enrolled at the Paris Acad‚mie Montparnasse with Edmond Aman-Jean and Raph"el Collin. During that summer, she attended classes in Rye, England taught by Charles Lazar. Oakley commuted to Pennsylvania, following her return to New York in 1896, studying for a semester with Joseph De Camp and Cecilia Beaux at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
After the family moved to Philadelphia in 1896, Oakley worked in commercial illustration. She was admitted to Howard Pyle's illustration class at the Drexel Institute in the fall of 1896. Pyle's technique of 'mental projection,' in which the artist visualized the most exciting moment in a narrative, had a considerable impact on Oakley's illustrations and mural paintings. She met Jessie Willcox Smith and Elizabeth Shippen Green in Pyle's class. In 1897, the three began a cooperative living arrangement, which by 1906 led to their establishment of a home at Cogslea, a Philadelphia mansion.
After achieving considerable success as an illustrator, Oakley received her first major commission in 1900, when she executed mural and stained glass decorations for All Angels Church, New York. In 1902, she was commissioned to paint murals for the Pennsylvania State Capitol building in Harrisburg. To prepare for this work, she toured Europe with her mother. Oakley became fascinated with her subject of William Penn and the Quakers. When Edwin Austin Abbey died in 1911, Oakley wa awarded the work remaining for completion of the project.
It took Oakley sixteen years to complete these murals. During this period, she taught a special class in mural decoration at the Pennsylvania Academy, from 1912 to 1917. In 1922 she published The Holy Experiment, a phrase taken from Penn's political writings, on the meaning of her mural cycle and ideas on art and politics.
Oakley interpreted the League of Nations as an outgrowth of Penn's ideas. As a self-appointed ambassador to the League, she traveled to Geneva in 1927, remaining for three years, executing portraits of the delegates and other dignitaries. In the 1930s, she was an active member of the Woman's International League for Peace and Freedom. She retired to Cogslea during the last decade of her life, where she worked in relative obscurity until her death at High Oaks Sanatarium.
After the family moved to Philadelphia in 1896, Oakley worked in commercial illustration. She was admitted to Howard Pyle's illustration class at the Drexel Institute in the fall of 1896. Pyle's technique of 'mental projection,' in which the artist visualized the most exciting moment in a narrative, had a considerable impact on Oakley's illustrations and mural paintings. She met Jessie Willcox Smith and Elizabeth Shippen Green in Pyle's class. In 1897, the three began a cooperative living arrangement, which by 1906 led to their establishment of a home at Cogslea, a Philadelphia mansion.
After achieving considerable success as an illustrator, Oakley received her first major commission in 1900, when she executed mural and stained glass decorations for All Angels Church, New York. In 1902, she was commissioned to paint murals for the Pennsylvania State Capitol building in Harrisburg. To prepare for this work, she toured Europe with her mother. Oakley became fascinated with her subject of William Penn and the Quakers. When Edwin Austin Abbey died in 1911, Oakley wa awarded the work remaining for completion of the project.
It took Oakley sixteen years to complete these murals. During this period, she taught a special class in mural decoration at the Pennsylvania Academy, from 1912 to 1917. In 1922 she published The Holy Experiment, a phrase taken from Penn's political writings, on the meaning of her mural cycle and ideas on art and politics.
Oakley interpreted the League of Nations as an outgrowth of Penn's ideas. As a self-appointed ambassador to the League, she traveled to Geneva in 1927, remaining for three years, executing portraits of the delegates and other dignitaries. In the 1930s, she was an active member of the Woman's International League for Peace and Freedom. She retired to Cogslea during the last decade of her life, where she worked in relative obscurity until her death at High Oaks Sanatarium.
