14 Facts About Julia Thecla

Julia Thecla was an American artist based in Chicago in the 1930s and 1940s, working in the Surrealist and magical realist school of modern art.

The university was then primarily a teacher's college, and due to high demand it was common for prospective teachers to study only for as long as they felt was needed to prepare themselves; Thecla subsequently taught students in the first through seventh grades at a rural schoolhouse in Tazewell County.

Julia Thecla studied for a total of two years at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, periodically breaking off her studies to work.

Julia Thecla was primarily a watercolorist, and made extensive use of fantasy imagery; her work was often described as "jewel-like" or "enchanted".

Julia Thecla worked almost exclusively with the female form, frequently using herself as a model.

Julia Thecla's work was exhibited for the first time in 1931, at the annual International Watercolor Exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Julia Thecla's works were subsequently exhibited there every year until 1936, and again from 1940 to 1944.

Julia Thecla's work began to be shown nationwide in the 1940s, beginning at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1943.

Also in 1943, Julia Thecla was included in Peggy Guggenheim's show Exhibition by 31 Women at the Art of This Century gallery in New York.

Julia Thecla wrote poetry throughout her career, but only published one poem during her lifetime, as she felt that poetry was a private affair.

Julia Thecla's poems were lost when she was moved out of her home in 1969.

Nonetheless, Julia Thecla continued painting until her vision began to deteriorate in her seventies.

Julia Thecla stayed with friends and family for a time, but in 1971 she was moved to a nursing home, and died there in 1973.

In 2006,35 Julia Thecla paintings were shown in a special exhibit at the DePaul University Art Museum.