Picture This: A Look Inside Creative Spaces and Studios

A Look Inside Creative Spaces and Studios
By Kristi Finefield

The studio of an artist–the place that allows an artist’s creativity to bloom–always raises so many questions. Is it chosen for some magical combination of the lighting, the location, the size of the artwork involved or types of tools needed? Is it messy, or tidy? Bare bones or full of luxurious decoration? Is it purely a place of work or a place for leisure and friends to visit?

Luckily, we sometimes can sneak a peek into the place that creators worked in and satisfy our curiosity and answer some of these questions. Explore the studios of artists, photographers, and one architect– some famous, others less well-known–in the photos below:

[Interior of Frances Benjamin Johnston’s studio at 1332 V St. NW, Washington, D.C., showing a large camera mounted on wheels] Photo by Frances Benjamin Johnston, circa 1900. https://ift.tt/2BQPVm8

[Sculptor Walton Ricketson’s art studio, New Bedford, Mass.] Photo by Thomas E.M. White, between 1860 and 1900. https://ift.tt/3fgbrhL

[James McNeill] Whistler in his studio. Photo by G. P. Jacomb Hood, between 1880 and 1900. https://ift.tt/2P9bYHC

Sculptor working on bust of J.J. Hill. Photo by Bain News Service, 1909 June 23. https://ift.tt/3ghUODG

Baker family group, Mrs. Baker posing. Photo by National Photo Company, circa 1920. https://ift.tt/3ggzWwp

Painting studio of C. Warde Traver, Central Park, New York. Photo by Bain News Service. https://ift.tt/2D56lYA

R. M. Hunt’s Studio, Newport, R.I. Photo by Frank H. Child, circa 1890. https://ift.tt/3hZPup3

Stettheimer, Florine, Miss, studio. Photo by Arnold Genthe, 1936. https://ift.tt/315ZXbt

Daniel C. French in the Chesterwoord studio working on the bust of Ambrose Swasey. Photo by Swasey, 1922. https://ift.tt/30fReUX

Learn More:

• Explore more images in the Prints and Photographs Division’s online collections related to the subject of Artists’ studios.
• See more views of photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston’s studio.
• The Prints and Photographs Division’s staff regularly invites creators to come to the Library and talk about their work. View some of these webcasts for a different kind of ‘peek into the studio’!