Sage, Cornelia Bentley

Cornelia Bentley Sage Quinton (1876 or 1880-1936) was a painter, administrator, and promoter of the arts in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A native of Buffalo, New York, she began work at the Albright Art Gallery as assistant to the Director, Charles M. Kurtz, in May 1905. Her responsibilities included payroll, accounting, and general secretarial duties. After Kurtz's premature death in March 1909, Sage Quinton was named acting director of the Gallery until October 15, 1910, when the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy unanimously appointed her to the position of Director, thus making her the first woman director of a major art museum in the United States. Her effectiveness was considerable, and in 1916 she was named the first secretary-treasurer of the Association of Art Museum Directors.

Sage Quinton's background and education in the arts included the Buffalo Seminary and the Art Students' League of Buffalo, the forerunner of the Albright Art School. She also studied for a time in Paris at the Ecole du Louvre, as well as at the Art Students' League of New York under Robert Reid and John Twachtman. Even after her studies, she remained close with Reid and maintained an extensive correspondence with him and many other artists throughout her career, particularly Robert Henri and Childe Hassam. She also corresponded regularly with other museum directors and trustees, art dealers, and gallery owners, including F.K.M. Rehn and Robert Macbeth, and private collectors, including John D. Rockefeller, Jr., John Quinn, and Charles Freer, who was also a close friend. During her tenure as Director, Sage Quinton often brought important works of art to Buffalo for various exhibitions. She organized a groundbreaking exhibition of photo-secessionist photography curated by Alfred Stieglitz (1910) and an exhibition of contemporary American sculpture, which included over 700 pieces that had to be extended beyond the Gallery's campus onto the grounds of Delaware Park (1916).

Sage Quinton was also known for a series of French School exhibitions that included an exhibit on the French sculptor, Bourdelle (1913), and an exhibit on the many etchings, drawings, and paintings by members of the de Monvel Family. By featuring these French exhibitions prominently, Sage Quinton was able to promote her political activism for French artists during the First World War. It was during this time period that Sage Quinton became particularly devoted to the cause of France, and her circulating exhibitions of French art reinforced the image of the plight of France in a neutral America. As president of the Buffalo Society of Artists, Sage Quinton organized a subscription fund drive to provide for a canteen in Paris to benefit French artists during the war. For her efforts she received numerous French decorations culminating in the Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1920.

On October 17, 1917, Sage Quinton married Major William Warren Quinton, an army surgeon resident in Buffalo. Although professionally she added his name to the end of hers, she was often still referred to as "Cornelia B. Sage." Sage Quinton's tenure at the Albright Art Gallery continued until her resignation and appointment as the first director of the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in June 1924. She died in Hollywood, California on May 16, 1936.--Biographical information adapted from original Albright-Knox Art Gallery finding aid.