(1883 - 1978). Gouache; 33" x 38". Born and raised in NYC, Grace became a peripatetic painter of Western and Southwest landscapes and Indians. Her subjects included Yosemite National Park, the Grand Canyon, and Arizona tribal members. She was also a muralist who did backdrops for animal displays at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and an illustrator for magazines and children's books.
Grace graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1903. From then until 1921, she led a nomadic existence. During this period she painted landscapes and di batik work and illustrations for the Society’s publications. In the 1920s, Betts returned to the West and took regular sketching trips to New Mexico and Arizona while living in California.
During the 1930s, she painted dioramas for the WPA in San Diego, and did backgrounds for the museum in Yosemite National Park. In 1929, the Santa Fe Railroad acquired two Arizona landscapes by Betts, and in 1954 the All Tribe Indian Center in Chicago acquired six of her large Indian studies. Listed in “The Woman Artist in the American West.”
PERIOD: Mid 20th Century
ORIGIN: California, United States