Alice Russell Glenny

Alice Russell Glenny (1858–1924) was an American painter, sculptor, and graphic artist who lived and worked in Buffalo, New York.

Her posters were featured prominently in Buffalo's Pan-American Exposition of 1901, famous for being the location of the shooting of President William McKinley.

Color lithography provided American advertisers with the means of creating eye-catching and beautifully rendered pictures, often of fashionable women.

French poster design, largely influenced by woodblock printing in Japan, was well received in the United States when Harper's Magazine commissioned Franco-Swiss artist Eugène Grasset to create covers in 1889, 1891, 1892, and in April 1893.

After much deliberation and competition, Buffalo, New York was chosen as the site of the exposition due to its large population of 350,000 people and easy access by railroad.

The scene shows Milet, surrounded by a small group of soldiers and American Indians, blessing the raised cross while a faint figure of Christ hovers behind him.

[10] In addition to Blessing of the Cross by Father Milet, 1688, Glenny had four other works displayed in the Exposition's Exhibit of Fine Arts, including The Maid of the Mist, The Coral Harp, and The Figure of Electricity.

[11] The Exhibit boasted the largest collection of contemporary American artists such as Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, and James McNeill Whistler.

Glenny's cover design for the booklet, "Music at the Pan-American Exposition: Organists, Orchestras, Bands", also known as The Coral Harp demonstrates her creativity representing the idyllic, idealized female form.

The sole surviving structure from the Pan-American Exposition, the New York State Building still stands and was converted into Buffalo's Historical Society Museum where Glenny's mural remains.

For example, "The Buffalo Courier's Women's Edition" was "forty pages (versus the usual ten) ... [and was] promoted with colorful posters and flyers to attract readers and advertisers alike.

Besides Glenny's historical legacy on the national stage in the MET and Library of Congress, she was also a prominent local figure in Buffalo, NY during her lifetime.

For example, she was an editor of a local magazine called Hobbies, which was put together by the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, circa 1920.

"[16] The purpose was to help middle class citizens cultivate their leisure time into worthwhile pursuits that promoted culture and erudition.