Sister Cassiana Marie
Cassiana Marie Vogt (1883 – June 21, 1944), born Martha Vogt and best known as Sister Cassiana Marie, was a Catholic nun and oil painter who was a member of the Ste. Genevieve Art Colony.
Biography
[edit]Martha Vogt, known affectionately as Mattie, was born in 1883 in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri.[1][2][3] She joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet at age 19, changing her name to Sister Cassiana Marie Vogt and taking her final vows as a nun in 1910.[1][3][4]
Sister Cassiana Marie was active as an oil painter.[1] She studied drawing and painting at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1919.[1]
Despite her austere appearance as a Catholic nun, she was a free thinker and sought further opportunities to pursue her art as a member of the well-known Ste. Genevieve Art Colony in her hometown.[1][4][5][6] She "discreetly" taught and painted there for multiple summers in the 1930s.[1] This experience exposed her to progressive ideas and gave her a freedom she enjoyed greatly.[1] The colony was notable for its acceptance of female artists such as Sister Cassiana and Miriam McKinnie.[7]
Sister Cassiana Marie has been described as "an intensely serious artist" who viewed art as opening one's eyes to a natural world where "beauty was supreme to dogma."[1][8] Her work was in a more classical style than some of her peers at the Ste. Genevieve Art Colony.[4] In addition to still lives, she painted various portraits, including of Catholic leaders and prominent local figures such as Green Bay Mayor John V. Diener and opera singer Lucille Meusel.[3] She also produced multiple murals, most notably her 1938 life-size mural for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cardondelet Convent in St. Louis.[2][3]
She was a significant influence on her nephew Matthew E. Ziegler, whom she encouraged to pursue painting.[1][8] She taught art at the St. Joseph Academy, a Catholic high school in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1913–1915 and 1921–1942.[1][9] She also taught for a period at Rosati-Kain High School in St. Louis.[3]
Sister Cassiana Marie died in 1944 in Richmond Heights, Missouri.[1][3] After her death, a large group of her paintings were acquired for the permanent collection of the Neville Public Museum of Brown County.[2][10] Her work has been exhibited there, including in a 1999 solo show titled "Heavenly Guidance," and at other institutions across the Midwest in the decades since.[2][11][12]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hartman, Christain (2021). "Sister Cassiana Marie". Missouri Remembers: Artists in Missouri Through 1951. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
- ^ a b c d Perry, Tom (1998-03-01). "A Sister's Art". Green Bay Press-Gazette.
- ^ a b c d e f "Sister Cassiana Marie Vogt, Artist, Teacher Dies Suddenly". Ste. Genevieve Herald. 1944-07-01.
- ^ a b c Briggs-Harty, Linda (2004-12-17). "An American Art Colony In Ste. Genevieve: 1930-194". Webster-Kirkwood Times. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
- ^ Stock, Gregory Thomas (2021-11-18). "Saint Genevieve Art Colony, 1930-1940". Color & Light. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
- ^ "Art History Trail". St. Genevieve Art Guild. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
- ^ Sampson, Francis Asbury; Shoemaker, Floyd Calvin (2008). Missouri Historical Review. State Historical Society of Missouri.
- ^ a b Kerr, Scott; Dick, Robert H. (2004). An American Art Colony: The Art and Artists of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, 1930-1940. McCaughen & Burr Press. ISBN 978-0-9762424-0-6.
- ^ "Sister Artist Wins Prize". The Wisconsin Catholic Club Woman. 1931. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
- ^ Annual Report to the Corporation. Neville Public Museum of Brown County. 1944.
- ^ "Neville Public Museum portraits exhibit will open on Saturday". Green Bay Press Gazette. 2010-05-30.
- ^ "At least Kox exhibit drew public attention to Neville". Green Bay Press Gazette. 1999-10-07.