Folks - delighted to be posting my first blog as part of my new author's website. I will have a "new" blog post at least twcie a month if not more. The posts will be mostly history focused and a mix of interesting details on the Amalia Kussner biography and topics from my People Hidden in History podcast series.
Amalia Kussner, as of today, is basically an unknown artist from the Gilded Age and her works are in very few museums. She however was one of the most well-known miniaturists from 1894-1911, and for a while in England, was "on par" with John Singer Sargent. Due to her popularity in New York (in the 1890's) she was really the first artist as part of the miniature portrait revival in this country. She then took her craft to England - to initially paint both the Prince of Wales and the famous Consuelo Vanderbilt, and many more from royal and titled lineage. Her fame continued to grow, as more Gilded Age luminaries sought her services.
What I call her "Year of Adventures" - started in March of 1899, when she painted the Czar and Czarina of Russia. She was warmly welcomed and painted both of them and likely their two daughters (only Tatiana and Olga were born as of 1899). Even this early on in the Czar's reign, she was closely watched and even followed as she walked around St. Petersburg. She later was to publish an amazingly detailed article about her visit in Century Magazine. The next six months - she rapidly produced more miniatures in both London and New York. But another adventure began when she decided to paint Cecil Rhodes (the diamond magnate), and travel all the way to South Africa. She had procurred tenative permission to paint Rhodes, but upon her arrival and the start of the Boer War, Rhodes left Cape Town to help defend the Kimberley diamond mines. Amalia was not to be deterred, and she took a train to Kimberley. The Boers even stopped the train, but allowed them to pass, seeing the passengers were not military. She arrvied uninvited to the Kimberley compound, and was reluctantly allowed in. Rhodes really had no choice, since the hostilities were closing in on the camp. She was then stuck at the camp, and endurred the shelling of the Boers and eventaully food rationing for 3 months.
The telling of her adventures in 1899, highlights her persistence and bravery, are a good indication of her character and the biography dedicates a whole chapter to these extraordinary experiences. Without a doubt, Amalia was a complex character and my hope is that her biogrphay will provide the readers with the many facets of her personality.