Artist

Josephine Joy

born North River Mills, WV 1869-died Peoria, IL 1948

Also known as: Sally Hiett
Josephine Hiett Joy
Josephine H. Joy
Josephine Bradley
Born: North River Mills, West Virginia, United States
Died: Peoria, Illinois, United States
Active in: California, United States

Biography: Josephine Hiett Joy was born near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, in 1869 and soon thereafter her family moved to Peoria, Illinois. After an early marriage that ended in divorce, she went to Chicago and subsequently married Frank Joy. She became interested in painting after they moved to San Diego. A prolific worker, she became a WPA artist in the late 1930s, which led to her first solo exhibition at the Galerie St. Etienne in New York City in 1943. Joy died in Peoria in 1948.
National Museum of American Art (CD-ROM) (New York and Washington D.C.: MacMillan Digital in cooperation with the National Museum of American Art, 1996)
: Luce Artist Biography
Josephine Joy was born Sally Hiett, but changed her name when she was sixteen years old. As a young woman, she lived in Chicago and Denver before settling in San Diego, California, with her husband. It was there that she began to paint, creating images of flowers and landscapes, and she particularly enjoyed sketching animals at the San Diego Zoo. During the Great Depression, Joy worked with the California Art Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which helped bring national attention to her work. In the spring of 1943, she held her first one-woman show at the Galerie St. Etienne in New York, which received considerable praise from critics.

Works by this artist (9 items)

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Josephine Joy, Magnolia Blossoms, ca. 1935-1941, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.44

Magnolia Blossoms

Artist

Dateca. 1935-1941

oil on canvas

Josephine Joy, CCC Camp Balboa Park, ca. 1933-1937, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.41

CCC Camp Balboa Park

Artist

Dateca. 1933-1937

oil on canvas

Josephine Joy, San Diego Mission, ca. 1935-1939, oil on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.45

San Diego Mission

Artist

Dateca. 1935-1939

oil on fiberboard

Josephine Joy, Aloes, ca. 1935-1938, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971.447.43

Artist

Dateca. 1935-1938

oil on canvas