Vase of Flowers 

Lilian Westcott Hale made this pencil drawing, Vase of Flowers, at an unknown date. Hale was part of a generation of American women artists who navigated the pressures of traditional domestic roles with the demands of professional artistic training. She studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and this sketch gives us insight into the pedagogy of art institutions at the turn of the century. We see a quickly rendered study of a floral arrangement atop a decorative marble table. The flowers are varieties often associated with the Victorian era, suggesting a conscious reference to the past. But Hale's loose and informal style also pushes against the rigid conventions of academic art. Sketches like this one remind us that the history of art is not just about finished masterpieces, but also about the daily practices and social contexts in which artists learn their craft. Art historians consult artists’ letters, biographies, exhibition reviews, and institutional records to better understand these contexts.