Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
While exploring the Triangle Club’s 1916 show “Safety First,” I came across the name of a female scenic artist – Katherine Maxey. I was fascinated that women did not perform in the play, yet one provided a stylized drop curtain for the prologue.
Of the scenery for the production, “The Brooklyn Citizen” described, “One innovation is in scenery. Instead of one set for the play there are three distinct scenes, with a special drop curtain for the prologue” (3 Dec, 1916, page 10). The design for the show was attributed to Bakst and the drop curtain Maxey painted in the “Bakst style.”
Thomas G. Moses’ commented the scenery was “very odd.” Moses was on site to supervise the scenery installation, suggesting that Sosman & Landis delivered much of the scenery for the production. A few newspaper reviews suggested the Princeton students produced the entire show, yet Maxey was specifically named and not a student at Princeton.
Katherine U. Maxey was born on September 13, 1887, meaning she was 28 years old when she painted the drop curtain.
The 1910 United States Federal Census lists Maxey as living in Wheaton Ward 3, DuPage County, Illinois. Her occupation is listed as an “illustrator,” working in the art industry. One of six children, she was the eldest of four still living at home in 1910. Maxey’s father was Francis J. Maxey, listed as a meat packer, and her mother Anna C. Regan, listed as a homemaker. At the time, Katherine was 22 years old and her younger siblings were ages 16 (Dorothy), 14 (George R.), 10 (Roberta), and 3 (Paul).
I was surprised to discover that at the age of 19, Maxey was working as an illustrator in Chicago. On Feb. 17, 1907, the “Times Dispatch” reported Katherine Maxey was the artist for the March issue of “The Technical World Magazine” (page 34). She designed the cover art.
By 1913 Maxey applied for a consular
In 1918, Katherine married Alfred Ray Patton (October 6, 1886-1926) in Evanston, Illinois. Their marriage was announced in “The Paxton Record” on January 31, 1918 (page 4):
“Announce Marriage of Daughter.
The Record received Tuesday morning a card from Mr. and Mrs. Francis Joseph Maxey of Evanston, Ill., announcing the marriage of their daughter, Miss Katherine Wisula, to Mr. Alfred Ray Patton of Clarence, on Saturday, January 20, 1918. They will be at home to their friends after the 15th of April at their apartments in Wheaton, Ill. The groom, who is the son of Mr. and Mrs. LaFayette Patton of South Button, is well known in Paxton, having attended school here. The bride is a lady of unusual attractions and is in the front rank of society in Wheaton. As an artist she ranks high and has taken many premiums in this country and Europe in mural decorations and designs. Her work adorns many art institutes in Madrid and other cities in Spain. It is with pleasure that the Record unites with their friends in extending congratulations.”
She now signed her art Katherine M. Patton, going by Katherine Maxey Patton.
The next year, Maxey exhibited at the Thirty-First Annual Exhibition of Water Colors, Pastels and Miniatures by American Artists at the Art Institute of Chicago from May 15 to June 15, 1919. Her painting was “The Watertank.” At the time, Maxey’s address 718 Southwest Street, Wheaton, Illinois. The couple soon moved to California.
Her husband was only a year older and seemed to lead a fairly average life. Born in Clarence, Illinois, his WWI Draft Registration Cards lists that he was employed as an attorney with Chicago Title Trust. Described as tall and slender, Patton had grey eyes and light hair. Sadly, the marriage last less than a decade. On Nov. 30, 1926, Patton passed away in Pasadena, California. No cause of death was listed. His obituary noted: “Alfred Ray Patton, husband of Katherine Maxey Patton of Wheaton, Ill. Passed away Tuesday, Nov. 30 at Pasadena, California. Son of Mrs. Ella Patton; brother of Ruth and Harry Patton. Burial from Patton home at Paxton, Ill., early Sunday afternoon, December 5th” (Chicago Daily Tribune, Dec. 3, 1926, page 37).
By 1930, Maxey divided her time between Pasadena and Chicago, still working as an artist and interior decorator. From May 24 – April 15, 1931, “Katherine Maxey Patton” exhibited at the “Festival of Religious Art: Religious Art by Artists of Chicago and Environs.” That same year, she was also mentioned in an article about the American Association of University Women. On August 18, 1931, the “Kenosha News” reported, “Two very interesting programs have been scheduled to end the year’s work. The first will feature the appearance of Mrs. Katherine M. Patton, National Academy of Art, Chicago, who will speak on ‘Old and New Masters,’ April 19.”
There is little published during the remainder of the decade about Maxey or her work. In 1937 she traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico, a trip that inspired a series of watercolor paintings. One of these paintings has survived and was recently up for sale at auction.
By 1940, Maxey had permanently moved to Pasadena, California, listing her occupation as an interior decorator. She still continued to paint murals, watercolors and oil paintings. Her name appeared in the “Decatur Daily” on March 11, 1956, in an article about the décor in Harry Malone’s Bookmead home in Decatur, Alabama. The “Japanese type handcrafter wall paper done by Katherine M. Patton” was a feature of the dining room. Very little else is published about Maxey as she grew older. However, in 1966, Katherine Maxey Patton, along with Dorothy and Jean Maxey were listed as contributing funds for the Pasadena Playhouse, to “Save the Pasadena Playhouse from fiscal ruin” (“Pasadena Independent,” 10 Aug. 1966, page 64).
In 1972 the “Star-News” reported, “Our society editor, Ruth Billheimer, advises that a subscriber phoned to report that artist Katherine Maxey Patton, who lives on Rio Grande and is a sister of the late actor, Paul Maxey, heard crows in her pine tree carrying on and making a great ado. Assuming it was a cat in the tree that was behind the raucous, she got out her binoculars. Suddenly, reported the informant, there came a great crashing sound from among the branches – and out flew and EAGLE. (Or condor, fugitive from the Ojai fire?)” (Pasadena, August 28, 1972).
Maxey passed away in Los Angeles in 1984.
To be continued…
