Bertha E. Jaques

Bertha E. Jaques (1863-1941) was an American etcher and a member of the American Theosophical Society.

Personal life

Bertha Evelyn Clauson was born on October 24, 1863 in Covington, Ohio to John William Clauson and Charolotte Ann Wilde Clauson. She completed high school, but did not attend college. Bertha engaged in secretarial work and in writing for magazines. On November 28, 1889, she married William Kilburn Jaques (1859-1945), who "was not only a surgeon but an active inventor of mechanical appliances, descended from a long line of inventors." The service was conducted in Oak Park, Illinois by well-known Unitarian minister Augusta Jane Chapin, who was one of the few women speakers at the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions. A daughter, Jeanette, was born in 1892 but died within a week.

Mrs. Jaques passed away on March 30, 1941.

Artistic career

John Lienhard gave an account of how her interest in etching developed:

She liked to paint. Then, when she was thirty, something happened. She saw an exhibition of the new French etchings at the Chicago Columbian Exposition [of 1893].

It was an important moment. Jaques went home to try this new medium.She bought a copper plate at the hardware store. She found wax, pitch,and nitric acid. She wrapped a paint roller with leather and located an old dentist's drill.

She was transfixed as the nitric acid carved out her first picture. She let it destroy the image completely. But her learning curve was fast. Her second etching is on museum display today. She improvised, failed, and succeeded. Her husband helped her fashion etching equipment from surgical tools.

She got a press from Milwaukee. Then, in 1897, she gave us the first etchings in the Midwest. She eventually left over 400 prints. And they occupy a peculiar place in American art.

The prints are lovely -- really lovely. Most are scenes -- locations. They are places in reality, but they're also places in her mind. They romanticize reality, yet they show an almost classic order and discipline. Jaques makes powerful use of perspective. She wields space with an engineer's eye.

Mrs. Jaques was a founder of the Chicago Society of Etchers, and served for 27 years as Executive Secretary and Treasurer. In 1936 the Society donated "630 fine prints, representing 220 artists, to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C."

Mrs. Jaques served as a mentor to generations of etchers. She corresponded with print makers like Birger Sanzén of Kansas, and joined his Prairie Print Makers for exhibitions and lectures:

[In 1928] he invited Jaques to give lectures on etching at Bethany College in Lindsborg and at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, where he was a visiting professor. Jaques’ etching Three Fishers, Venice included in this 2020 exhibition is inscribed: “To Birger Sandzén—who saw it printed Apr. 25, 1929.” Jaques was known for demonstrating the etching process during her talks and must have printed this impression from her 1912 plate during that 1929 visit. Sandzén invited Jaques to join the Prairie Print Makers early on, and she exhibited with the group by the second season of traveling exhibitions in 1933, continuing to be an active member and submitting her etchings each year until her death in 1941.

She was also the author of several books on etching and other subjects."

Theosophical Society involvement

Bertha Jaques was admitted to the American Theosophical Society on October 1, 1920, and remained a member for the rest of her life. She belonged to the Herakles Lodge in Chicago. In 1934 she donated a lovely etching called Buddha Serenity to the headquarters of the American Theosophical Society.

Writings

Mrs. Jaques wrote several articles and books on etching and other subjects.

Additional resources

Audio

• No. 547: Bertha E. Jaques by John H. Lienhard in The Engines of Our Ingenuity website.