Barbara Swan Bio
B O R N I N N E W T O N , M A , 1 9 2 2
D I E D I N B O S T O N , M A , 2 0 0 3
E D U C A T I O N
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, 1943-48
Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, B.A. in Art History, 1943
S O L O E X H I B I T I O N S
Alpha Gallery, Boston, MA; 2014, 1996, 1992, 1987, 1984, 1980, 1976, 1973, 1970
Barbara Swan: Reflected Self, Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA, 2013-14
Barbara Swan: Portraits and Still Lifes, Museum of Art, University of New Hampshire, Durham, 2012
Barbara Swan: A Retrospective of Drawings, Boston Public Library, Boston, MA,1993
Pine Manor College, Chestnut Hill, MA, 1985
Boston Public Library, Boston, MA, 1980
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA, 1973
Cober Gallery, New York, NY, 1968
Boris Mirski Gallery, Boston, MA; 1965, 1963, 1957, 1953
Crapo Gallery, Swain School of Art, New Bedford, MA; 1964
S E L E C T E D G R O U P E X H I B I T I O N S
The Expressive Voice, Danforth Museum, Framingham, MA, 2011-2012
Gallery Selections, Alpha Gallery, Boston, MA, 2011
The Expressive Voice, St. Botolph Club, Boston, MA, organized by the
Danforth Museum, 2011
Women Artists from the Cape Ann Museum Collection: A Survey Exhibition, Cape
Ann Museum, Gloucester, MA, 2009-2010
Gallery Selections, Alpha Gallery, Boston, MA, 2010
Painting in Boston: 1950-2000, deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln,
MA, 2002
The Visionary Decade: New Voices in Art in 1940s Boston, Boston University
Art Gallery, Boston, MA, 2002
Against the Grain: The Second Generation of Boston Expressionism, The Art Gallery
at University of New Hampshire, Durham, 2000
Paris, 1949, Boston Public Library, Boston, MA, 1999
Boston International Fine Art Show, Boston Center for the Arts, 1998
Gallery Selections, Alpha Gallery, Boston, MA, 1998
Be Still Dear Art, New England School of Art & Design, Boston, MA, 1998 (curated
by Charles Giuliano)
Still Life and Portraits: Paintings by Frances Gillespie, Marci Gintis and Barbara
Swan, Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA, 1997
Working Sources: The Painter and the Photographic Image, Alpha Gallery, Boston,
MA, 1997
Memento Mori, New England School of Art & Design, Boston, MA, 1996
Eighth Triennial, Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, MA 1996
Boston’s Honored Artists: Still Working, Danforth Museum, Framingham, MA, 1995
Gallery Artists, Alpha Gallery, Boston, MA, 1995
Then & Now: Celebrating 50 Years of the Cambridge Art Association, 1944-1994,
Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA, 1994
Art Chicago 1994: The New Pier, Chicago, IL, 1994
Small Scale, Alpha Gallery, Boston, MA, 1993
Women in Watercolor, Boston Public Library, Boston, MA, 1993
Self aMUSEd: The Contemporary Artist as Observer and Observed, Fitchburg Art Museum,
Fitchburg, MA, 1993
The Object: Found, Observed, Imagined, Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA,
1991
Invitational Exhibition, Northeastern University Art Gallery, Boston, MA, 1988
Boston Expressionism, 1945-1985, deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park Lincoln,
MA, 1986 (catalogue)
Collected Visions, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Boston, MA, 1986
Portraits: Artists by Artists, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA, 1985
Boston Arts Festival, Boston, MA, 1985
Homage, Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA, 1981
Directions in Realism: Boston, Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA, 1980
New England Realists, Northeastern University Art Gallery, Boston, MA, 1980
New England Artists: Works on Paper, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, 1980
Award Candidates Exhibition, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letter,
New York, NY, 1976
Boston Area Artists, Brockton Museum of Art, Brockton, MA, 1975
New England Women Artists, deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA,
1963
Biennial Print Exhibition, Brooklyn Museum of Art. Brooklyn, NY, 1965
New England Art: Drawing, deCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA,
1963
View 1960, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA, 1960
Contemporary American Painting, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, 1950
Carnegie Annual, 1949
Selected Collections
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA
Anderson Industries, Rockford, IL
Art Institute of Chicago
Boston Public Library
Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Colby College, Waterville, ME
Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA
Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH
DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA
Dunkin' Donuts Corporation
Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, MA
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Milton Academy, Milton, MA
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC
Radcliffe College, Cambridge, MA
Raytheon Company
Salem State College, Salem, MA
Simmons College, Boston, MA
Stephen and Sybil Stone Foundation
University of Texas, Austin (Harry Ransom Center)
Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA
Selected Bibliography
Teaching/Visiting Artist/Curator
Boston University, Boston, MA, 1960-65
Miilton Academy, Milton, MA, 1951-54
Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 1946-48
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, 1946-48
Awards/Grants
Alumnae Achievement Award, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, 1996
George Roth Prize, Philadelphia Print Club, 1965
Institute for Independent Study (The Bunting Institute), Radcliffe College, Associate Scholar, 1961, 1962
Pintner Award, Cambridge Art Association, 1957, 1958, 1960
Albert Whitin Traveling Fellowship (Conferred by the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), 1948
-lived and worked in France for two years
McDowell Colony Fellowship, 1947, 1948