During our winter closed period we are sharing the stories told during our 2024 Warrenville Cemetery Walk. We hope you enjoy reading about the people who helped shape Warrenville history. At our third stop, Cemetery Walk attendees got to learn a little bit about the Albright family of artists as told by the family’s mother Clara Wilson Albright.

Good evening, my name is Clara Wilson Albright. I’m sure many of you have heard of my husband Adam Emory Albright or our twin sons Ivan and Malvin, all wonderful artists. At this time of year with Halloween right around the corner, many people think of Ivan and his creepy appearing paintings. His unique style is famous for how he portrayed the normal everyday person as rather grotesque, but to Ivan it wasn’t creepy at all, it was a celebration of the fragility of life.

Ivan’s father, Adam Emory Albright and I came of age together, growing up in rural northeastern Iowa in the late 1880s. We were both raised on farms; my father was a doctor and owned our family farm, and Adam’s father rented land. When Adam headed off to St. Louis to start his career as an artist, he said that he would come back for me, and he did. We started our married life together in Chicago and even spent some time in Europe where Adam continued his artistic training. When we moved back to Chicago, we lived on the far north side and Adam became very well known for his plein air style of painting, working outdoors and painting pictures of children in rural settings.

We had three sons, Lisle, our oldest, and then the twins, Ivan and Malvin. The twins were born prematurely, neither boy weighing even 4 lbs. It was a miracle that they survived to be healthy adults. Lisle never took to art, but the twins followed in their father’s footsteps and immediately let the world around inspire them. When the Great War broke out and the United States joined the war in 1917, the boys were called off to serve. Ivan and Malvin spent time in France. Malvin was assigned guard duty, making sure only authorized vehicles entered the US base. Ivan was given a very different assignment. He was tasked with assisting the medical team as a sketch artist-drawing and coloring recreations of early surgeries and medical procedures. The horrors and destruction of war, and the rudimentary nature of early medicine can be seen in his drawings. Barely 21 years of age, he witnessed things I shutter to imagine.  

100 years ago, in 1924 our family moved here to Warrenville purchasing a house at the corner of Second Street and Warrenville Road. Adam and the twins used your former Methodist Church building as their art studio just up the street from our house. Chicago was too built up and had become too busy and Warrenville in 1924 was the perfect sleepy town for us to find a new, quieter home in. Adam and the boys worked throughout Warrenville, recruiting models from our neighbors there along Second Street.

Ivan quickly became very well-known for his unique style, in great contrast to his father’s work. Warrenville people would pose for Ivan as models, even if he lacked the personal skills to provide much in the way of comfort or care for them during his work. He would often become engrossed in his own artistic process and sometimes forget they were actually living models; one even fainted during a sitting and Ivan barely noticed! Ivan also painted very slowly, a methodical creator. Some models would be frustrated by the length of time the pieces took and even more stunned, if not horrified at how they appeared in Ivan’s paintings. Wrinkled, veins highlighted, any and all flaws exemplified. Perhaps that is why many referred to Ivan as the master of the macabre. Despite the gruesome nature of Ivan’s paintings, he became very popular.

Sadly, I passed away in 1939 and never saw the great recognition Ivan would receive. Ivan’s style launched him to international fame for his piece the Picture of the Dorain Gray which was featured in the 1945 Hollywood Movie of the same name.

He also put Warrenville on the map and many of those who are captivated by Ivan’s work to this day know of your community because of the many Warrenville people featured in Ivan’s paintings. My husband Adam outlived me by 18 years and passed away in 1957 at the age of 95. Although we are buried in Oak Park, we are so glad that our family’s time here in Warrenville had such a lasting impact and we are even more grateful that your historical society still pays tribute to our family in their art gallery and museum. Thank you