American artist Maud Hunt Squire was BOTD in 1873. Born in Milford, Ohio to a family of artists, she studied at the University of Cincinnati and later at the Art Institute of Cincinnati, where she met her life partner Ethel Mars. Squire began work as a book illustrator while she was a student, drawing praise for her colour intaglio and colour pastel works. She and Mars also undertook joint commissions to illustrate children’s books Children of Our Town and Adventures of Ulysses, bringing commercial success. In 1903, they relocated to Paris, becoming friends with celebrity lesbians Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas and exhibiting their work at the Société du Salon d’automne. Stein featured the couple in her poem Miss Furr and Miss Skeene, thought to be the first literary use of the word “gay” to describe a same-sex couple. Through Stein, they also became friends with Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Inspired by Matisse and the Fauvists, they applied bright colours to their paintings and moved into printmaking. Returning to the United States as World War One broke out, they settled in the artistic colony of Provincetown, Massachusetts, exhibiting their work and teaching printmaking. Returning to France after the war, they settled in Saint-Paul de Vence on the French Riveria. They went into hiding in Grenoble during World War Two, returning France after the war. Squire died in 1954 aged 81. Mars died five years later; they were buried together in Saint-Paul de Vence.