Susan Hayward Schneider

Susan Lydia Hayward Schneider was born in Pana, Illinois, June 27, 1876, the oldest daughter of William Eugene Hayward and Clara Turnbolt. Her father gained his fortune in the banking and real estate loan business and was the largest landholder in the US, worth 3 million dollars with real estate extended over Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. The family moved from Pana to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1899.

Susan attended the Girls’ Classical School of Indianapolis, which was not the usual finishing school; Susan received an education to prepare her for college. The school’s founder, May Knight Sewall, was a renowned educator, proponent of the arts, and leader in the women’s suffrage movement. Her influence can be seen throughout Susan’s life, as she participated in women’s organizations and art clubs. Susan attended Smith College for one year, leaving after academic warnings. She started her art education in Indianapolis at the John Herron Art Institute, studying book-binding, and in 1900, married baritone, conductor, and composer Karl Jacob Schneider. From 1900-1905, the Schneider's were both members of the Portfolio Club, Indianapolis. Susan assumed the role of society hostess while in Indianapolis, and from 1900 to1910, would travel with Karl to Europe in the summer.

The Schneider's traveled extensively, combining their interests in paintings and music, visiting the great galleries and attending music festivals. On several longer stays in Europe, Susan attended lectures at the University of Berlin, and in Munich, sketched at the museums and studied with Prof. Karl Leopold Voss. The Schneider's moved from Indianapolis to Philadelphia in 1910. Susan furthered her art studies at the Philadelphia School of Industrial Design and studied with Henry Rittenberg and Frederick R. Wagner. Susan exhibited and was an active member of several clubs in Philadelphia: Plastic Club, New Century, Woman’s City Club, Art Alliance and Art Guild.

In 1917, the Schneider's purchased Glen Lake Farm in Langhorne, PA as their summer home, splitting their year between Philadelphia and Langhorne. In 1940, they moved full time to Langhorne. Susan was an Associate member of the Langhorne Sorosis (General Federation of Women’s Clubs) from 1920-1952, serving on several committees including the art committee, and hosting meetings at her Glen Lake studio.

Susan excelled in flower paintings, still lifes, and landscapes, with an occasional portrait. Her landscapes included scenes in Italy, Yugoslavia, Austria, Bavarian Tyrol, Medieval Germany, Spain, Holland, Maine and Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She exhibited regularly in Philadelphia from 1922 to1951, at the Plastic Club, Kayser Allman Gallery, Art Club, New Century Club, Warwick Gallery, Women’s City Club, and with The New Philadelphia Group. In 1939, a solo show of flower paintings at the Argent Gallery in New York City, gave her a review in Art News: “Her compositions are enriched in interest when she incorporates other objects as she does by the window with its piece of old porcelain. The flowers themselves are painted with a gardener’s appreciation of their differences and they make a luxurious showing.” In 1940, Susan exhibited at the Reading Art Museum, Reading, PA, alongside such artists as Andrew Wyeth, Edith Emerson, Violet Oakley, and 3 members of The Philadelphia Ten.

Between 1917 and 1953, numerous exhibits of Susan’s work were held at her Glen Lake Farm studio, the last being after her death, when 60 of her oil paintings were exhibited. Susan died November 18, 1952, in Langhorne. In 1956, her sister donated Susan’s painting, Chrysanthemums, to the Indianapolis Art Museum in memory of their father, as well as a portrait of Susan, painted by Alice Mumford Roberts in 1940, entitled Mrs. Karl Schneider.

Education
Girls’ Classical School of Indianapolis
Indianapolis Indiana Smith College 1896-1897
Studied book binding at the John Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis, Indiana
Studied Painting, Philadelphia School of Industrial Design
Lectures at the University of Berlin Painting Teachers: Carl Voss, (Munich); Henry Rittenberg (1879-1969); Frederick R. Wagner (1860-1940)

Connection to Bucks County
Susan Hayward Snyder, and her husband the musician and composer, Karl Schneider, lived at their summer home, Glen Lake Farm in Langhorne, Bucks County from 1917 until 1940 and then permanently from 1940 until 1955.
Susan was an Associate Member of the Langhorne Sorosis from 1920-1952
She had her art Studio and home at Glen Lake Farm, Langhorne, 1917-1952

Plastic Club, Philadelphia, 1922, 1923, 1924
Kayser Allman Gallery, Philadelphia, 1926
Art Club, Philadelphia, 1928
Art Centre, New York, 1928
”New Philadelphia Group”, Philadelphia, 1929
Langhorne High School, Langhorne, PA, 1932, 1934
New Century Club, Philadelphia, 1934
Glen Lake Farm Exhibit, Langhorne, PA, 1934
Warwick Gallery, 17th & Locust, Philadelphia, 1935, 1936
Women’s City Club, 1622 Locust, Philadelphia “Landscapes from trip abroad and flowers from her garden”, 1938
“Outside the Walls of Dubrovnik”, Art Club, Philadelphia, 1938
Argent Gallery, Solo Show, New York City, 1939
Art Guild to Glen Lake Farm, Langhorne, PA, 1940
Glen Lake Farm, Langhorne, PA, 1940
Reading Art Museum, Pennsylvania, 1940
Women’s City Club, Philadelphia,1944, 1947
Langhorne Community/Richardson House, Langhorne, PA, 1951
Glen Lake Farm, Langhorne, PA, 1953

Member of Portfolio Club, Indianapolis, 1900-1905
Plastic Club, Philadelphia
Philadelphia Women’s City Club
Philadelphia New Century Club