Art History

Folk Art: New Joseph Hidley Painting Comes to Light?

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A newly discovered piece of folk art appears to be the early work of Rensselaer County artist Joseph H. Hidley. The work, a small graphite drawing signed &#8220Drawn by Joseph Hidley, 1841, age 11,&#8221 was purchased at a Massachusetts auction by Halsey Munson, a Decatur, Illinois a dealer in early American furniture, accessories and folk art. Although the authenticity of the piece has not yet been definitely established, it is an early townscape of the Hudson River village of Saugerties, similar in style and composition to Hidley’s other work.

Joseph Hidley’s short career is well represented in regional, state, and national museum collections. If authenticated, &#8220Saugerties&#8221 would be the earliest known work of Hidley who painted genre scenes, religious allegories, and land and townscapes while also working as a taxidermist and house, sign, and wagon painter.

The work is remarkably similar to a portion of William Wade and William Croome’s Panorama of the Hudson River from New York To Albany, which was published in 1846. The finding suggests that Hidley may have known William Croome, and copied his work before it was published.

The first step, according to Munson, is authenticating the work. &#8220In all of this, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time studying the published Hidley works and comparing them with the piece I have,&#8221 Munson told me via e-mail. &#8220Even allowing for my understandable desire for this piece to be right, I’ve found enough solid points of similarity to give me quite a bit of confidence that this could easily be by Joseph Hidley.&#8221

The image shows the first lighthouse at the mouth of the Esopus Creek at Saugerties, built in 1838 with funds appropriated from Congress, to guide ships away from nearby shallows and into the Esopus Creek when Saugerties was a major port. The light used five whale oil lamps with parabolic reflectors and was replaced in 1869, by a lighthouse that still stands. The foundation for the original lighthouse can still be seen adjacent to the existing lighthouse.

Photo provided by Halsey Munson.

Rarely Seen Tissot Watercolors On View

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Many of the iconic watercolors illustrating the New Testament by 19th-century French painter James Tissot, including many images related to the Nativity are on view at the Brooklyn Museum only through January 17, 2010. James Tissot: The Life of Christ includes 124 watercolors, selected from a complete set of 350 in the Museum’s collection. It marks the first time in over twenty years that any of these images have been on public view, in large part because of the extreme fragility of watercolors.

Among the scenes related to the birth of Christ that are included in the exhibition are The Annunciation, Saint Joseph Seeks a Lodging in Bethlehem, The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, The Magi Journeying, and The Adoration of the Shepherds.

Born in France, James Tissot (1836-1902) enjoyed a successful career as a society painter in London and in Paris before experiencing a religious vision, after which he began the ambitious project of illustrating the life of Christ, an undertaking that took a decade. It resulted in carefully researched, detailed images that were widely exhibited before rapt audiences in Europe and the United States.

In 1900, at the urging of John Singer Sargent, the entire series was acquired by the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, the precursor of the Brooklyn Museum, for the then huge sum of $60,000. The significant acquisition increased by several times, the then small art collection of the fledging museum.

A selection of images from the exhibition, including several of the Nativity-related watercolors, is available for press use.

Photo: James Tissot (French, 1836-1902) The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1886-94, Brooklyn Museum

Hyde Exhibition of Modern Art to Open November 28

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This Saturday, November 28, The Hyde Collection will open Divided by a common language? British and American Works from The Murray Collection. The exhibition of approximately twenty works of Modern art from the twentieth century are part of a larger collection donated to the Museum by the late Jane Murray.

Between 1991 and 1996, Murray gave nearly sixty works of Modern art to the Museum, the first significant donation of twentieth-century art received by The Hyde. An additional group of works was bequeathed by Murray upon her death earlier this year. This donation helped to form the foundation of the Museum’s Modernist holdings.

The exhibit, curated by The Hyde’s Executive Director David F. Setford, celebrates the works donated by Murray and reflects the breadth of her collection, while looking at differences and similarities between British and American Modernism. Artists represented in the exhibition include Britain’s Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, John Piper, Howard Hodgkin, and Paul Mount. American artists include Gregory Amenoff, Betty Parsons, Stuart Davis, and Ellsworth Kelly.

“This exhibition was organized as a tribute to Jane Murray’s legacy,” said Setford, “Her generosity to our Museum is only surpassed by the attention she paid in selecting works for her impressive Modern art collection.“

According to Setford, the exhibition pieces were selected to help visitors examine the similarities and differences between American and British works of the period, as both are areas of particular strength in the Murray Collection.

The exhibition in Hoopes Gallery will be open through Sunday, February 28, 2010. Admission to the Museum complex is free for members. Voluntary suggested donation for non-members is five dollars. For more information, contact The Hyde Collection at 518-792-1761 or visit www.hydecollection.org.

 

James Tissots Life of Christ Watercolors Exhibit

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The exhibition James Tissot: &#8220The Life of Christ&#8221 will include 124 watercolors selected from a set of 350 that depict detailed scenes from the New Testament, from before the birth of Jesus through the Resurrection, in a chronological narrative. On view from October 23, 2009, through January 17, 2010, it marks the first time in more than twenty years that any of the Tissot watercolors, a pivotal acquisition that entered the collection in 1900, have been on view at the Brooklyn Museum.

The exhibition has been organized by Judith F. Dolkart, Associate Curator, European Art, and will travel to venues to be announced. It will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue of the complete set of 350 images, to be published by the Museum in association with Merrell Publishers Ltd, London.

Born in France, James Tissot (1836-1902) had a successful artistic career in Paris before going to London in the 1870s, where he established himself as a renowned painter of London society, before returning to Paris in 1882. He then began work on a set of fifteen paintings depicting the costumes and manners of fashionable Parisian society women. While visiting the Church of St. Sulpice in the course of his research, he experienced a religious vision, after which he embarked on an ambitious project to illustrate the New Testament.

With the same meticulous attention to detail that he had applied to painting high society, he now created these precisely rendered watercolors. In preparation, he made expeditions to the Middle East to record the landscape, architecture, costumes, and customs of the Holy Land and its people, which he recorded in photographs, notes, and sketches, convinced that the region had remained unchanged since Jesus’s time. When he returned to his Paris studio he drew upon his research materials to execute the watercolors, concentrating on this project to the exclusion of his previous subject matter.

Unlike earlier artists, who often depicted biblical figures anachronistically, Tissot painted the many figures in costumes he believed to be historically authentic. In addition to the archaeological exactitude of many of the watercolors, the series presents other, highly dramatic and often mystical images, such as Jesus Ministered to by Angels and The Grotto of the Agony.

Tissot began the monumental task of illustrating the New Testament in 1886 and first presented selections at the Paris Salon in 1894 (before the series’ completion), where they were received with great enthusiasm. Press accounts on both sides of the Atlantic reported emotional reactions among the visitors: some women wept or kneeled before the works, crawling from picture to picture, while men removed their hats in reverence.

In May 1901 the 350 watercolors, newly mounted in gold mats and reframed, went on view for the first time on Eastern Parkway- records seem to indicate they remained on nearly continuous display until the 1930s. Since then, in part because of conservation concerns, they have only rarely been shown, and then only small portions of the series, most recently in late 1989 through early 1990.

Photo: James Tissot. Jesus Goes Up Alone onto a Mountain to Pray, 1886-94. Brooklyn Museum

Hyde Collection To Present Andrew Wyeth: An American Legend

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The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, Warren County, has announced that its major 2010 summer exhibition will be &#8220Andrew Wyeth: An American Legend&#8221 will be on view from June 12 through September 5, 2010. The exhibition, organized by The Hyde Collection, will cover a broad span of Wyeth’s work including sections devoted to early coastal watercolors and landscape paintings, as well as a look at Wyeth’s models, his interest in vernacular architecture, and his connection to both the Regionalist tradition and Magic Realism.

The exhibition will comprise approximately fifty works, with the core coming from the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine. Featured in the exhibition will be examples of the artist’s works created in dry brush, watercolor, pencil, and tempera &#8211 including The Hyde’s own Wyeth watercolor – The Ledge and the Island, 1937- as well as works on loan from museums and private collections.

The exhibit will be curated by Hyde Executive Director David F. Setford and Deputy Director and Chief Curator Erin B. Coe and will be the first opportunity since the Wyeth’s death earlier this year to begin to critically reevaluate his contribution to American twentieth century art.

The Museum will produce a catalogue to accompany the exhibition and also hopes to collaborate with other arts organizations in the Glens Falls region in coordinating a series of lectures, exhibitions, and performances with Wyeth-related themes.

New Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives Collections

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives has announced that three recently processed collections relating to the institution are now open for scholarly research. The papers of Met founder John Taylor Johnston, New York art collectors Louisine Waldron Elder and Henry (Harry) Osborne Havemeyer, and long time Met staff member Richard F. Bach have all been made available (with online finding aids).

John Taylor Johnston Collection, 1832-1981: John Taylor Johnston was a founder of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and was elected its first President in 1870. He held this position until he retired in 1889- the institution’s Trustees subsequently voted him Honorary President for Life. The collection consists of travel journals, visitor books, correspondence, family histories, and other unpublished and published documents relating to the life, travels and family history of John Taylor Johnston. The bulk of this material relates to Johnston’s personal affairs and is not concerned with The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Finding aid.

The Havemeyer Family Papers relating to Art Collecting, 1901-1922: The New York art collectors Louisine Waldron Elder (1855-1929) and Henry (Harry) Osborne Havemeyer (1847-1907) assembled a large and diverse collection of paintings, sculpture and decorative art between 1876 and 1924. It was known for being one of the first American art collections to include Spanish and Impressionist paintings. The papers include correspondence, writings, notes, and ephemera that document the Havemeyers’ art collecting activities between 1901 and 1922. The majority of the collection consists of correspondence with art dealers and agents, such as Mary Cassatt, Theodore Duret, Albert E. Harnisch and Ricardo de Madrazo, who worked on behalf of the Havemeyers to build their renowned art collection. Finding aid.

Richard F. Bach Records, 1913-1953: During his tenure at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Richard F. Bach served as Associate in Industrial Arts (1918-1929), Director of Industrial Relations (1929-1941), Dean of Education and Extension (1941-1949), and Consultant in Industrial Arts (1949-1952). Bach championed the collaboration of museums and the industrial arts, working extensively with manufacturers, industrial designers, and educational institutions. In addition to his work at the Museum, Bach was a member and leader of a number of arts and education organizations as well as a prolific writer and lecturer. The Richard F. Bach Records primarily contain correspondence, meeting minutes, and pamphlets related to Bach’s activities as Director of Industrial Relations, Dean of Education and Extension, and Consultant in Industrial Arts. The majority of the correspondence is professional in nature and concerns Bach’s role as liaison between The Metropolitan Museum of Art and industrial designers, manufacturers, educators, and arts organizations. Finding aid.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives The objective of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives is to collect, organize, and preserve in perpetuity the corporate records and official correspondence of the Museum, to make the collection accessible and provide research support, and to further an informed and enduring understanding of the Museum’s history. Archives holdings include Board of Trustees records, legal documents, Museum publications, office files of selected Museum staff, architectural drawings, press clippings, and ephemera. The Archives is accessible to Museum staff and to qualified scholarly researchers at the graduate level and above. Requests for access should be sent via email, and should include a brief summary of the research project, an outline of sources already consulted and a curriculum vitae or resume.

Access is granted at the discretion of Archives staff, and certain materials may be restricted. Email: [email protected].

Hyde Collection Receives Gift of Major Crockwell Painting

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The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, NY has announced that it has received a gift of a 1934 oil painting by Douglass Crockwell (1904-1968) entitled &#8220Paper Workers, Finch Pruyn & Co,&#8221 from Mr. and Mrs. Samuel P. Hoopes, of Bolton Landing, New York.

Douglass Crockwell was a founding trustee of The Hyde Collection, acted as its first director, and was famous for his illustrative paintings for such national publications as the Saturday Evening Post, Life, Look, and Esquire. His commercial illustrations were commissioned by such manufacturing and industry giants as General Electric, General Motors, Coca Cola, and Standard Oil. Crockwell lived and worked in Glens Falls from 1932 until his death in 1968.

“Although Crockwell is more widely known as a commercial illustrator, this painting is a remarkable example of his endeavor as a fine artist &#8212- long before he became the famous illustrator of the 1940s and 50s,” stated Hyde Chief Curator Erin B. Coe. The painting depicts two anonymous Finch Pruyn workers smoothing a massive roll of newsprint on a towering paper machine while in the lower left corner a manager supervises their work. Crockwell painted two nearly identical versions of this image of labor during the Great Depression, when many American workers were unemployed. “Crockwell is boldly presenting the primary industry of Glens Falls at the height of the Depression,” added Coe. The first version belongs to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. and was created by Crockwell in 1934 for the Works Progress Administration. This second version, donated to The Hyde, was made by the artist for Finch Pruyn & Co. later that same year.

According to The Hyde’s Executive Director David F. Setford, the gift is a major acquisition for a number of reasons. “Sam Hoopes saw the opportunity to share with the Museum a piece of Glens Falls history. The image of Paper Workers, Finch Pruyn & Co. connects us with the industrial roots that allowed The Hyde Collection to begin.”

The painting joins two other works in the Museum’s collection by Crockwell. The first, acquired in 1971, is a painted illustration for the Saturday Evening Post and was gifted to The Hyde by Crockwell’s wife and son. The second is an unfinished portrait of Louis Fiske Hyde, which was donated to the Museum by Mrs. Crockwell and her family in 1979.

&#8220Paper Workers, Finch Pruyn & Co.&#8221 was presented by The Hyde’s Collections Committee to the Board of Trustees for approval at their meeting on September 21, 2009. The work will be sent to the Williamstown Art Conservation Center for conservation treatment, and when the painting returns it will be placed on public view.

Photo: Douglass Crockwell, American, 1904-1968 &#8220Paper Workers, Finch Pruyn & Co.,&#8221 Glens Falls, New York, 1934, Oil on canvas, 48 x 36 in.

John Jay Descendent Makes Gift of Early Historic Drawings

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John Clarkson Jay, Jr. of Massachusetts, a direct descendant of Founding Father, John Jay, together with his wife Emily, has donated two original family drawings to the permanent collection of the Jay Heritage Center. One is a watercolor and the other a pencil sketch- both depict the Jay family’s original home, “The Locusts” and its landscape in Rye circa 1745. John Jay’s family moved to Rye from Manhattan when he was only 3 months old and purchased an expanse of 250 acres between Long Island Sound and the Boston Post Road.

From his childhood upbringing in Rye, John Jay went on to serve in every branch of US government including roles as first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, two term governor of New York State, co-author of the Federalist Papers and negotiator of the Jay Treaty. He is buried in Rye with his family and descendants in a private cemetery. Upon visiting the Jay Property in 1976, the late Associate Justice Harry A. Blackmun said, &#8220It was a place that struck me then as symbolic of what was impressive about certain aspects of the latter part of the 18th century—gracious living and status to be sure, but coupled with a sense of responsibility, particularly to government and to the art of getting along together&#8230-I am certain that all of us who are here today join in saluting the Jay family for its significant contributions that meant so much when this Nation that we all love was in its precarious infancy.”

“The Locusts” farmhouse will be a recognizable subject to those familiar with another artist’s work, that of renowned American modernist painter Guy Pene du Bois (1884-1958). Du Bois was a student of Robert Henri and a contemporary of Edward Hopper. Since 1938, du Bois’ mural of John Jay and “The Locusts” has adorned the interior of the Caroline O’Day Post Office in Rye. The composition of this WPA work was based on the very same 19th century sketches of the Jay home that have now been donated to the Jay Heritage Center.

While “The Locusts” no longer exists &#8211the 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House was built atop its footprint&#8211 builders of the Greek Revival mansion salvaged original nails and timbers from the earlier farmhouse and used them in the new construction. The house is currently open for Sunday tours and visitors can see where these fragments were reincorporated into the building.

The newly acquired Jay drawings will be unveiled to the public on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at “Jay Day!” 1:00- 5:00pm. Several of the Jay descendants will also be on hand for this celebration of a legacy preserved. The JHC hopes that the community will be able to see firsthand how beautiful the Jays’ Rye estate once was and imagine it restored to glory and usefulness again.

Iroquois Museum To Present Haudenosaunee Artists

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On Sunday, October 4 at 2 P.M., the Iroquois Indian Museum in Howes Cave, NY will present a lecture by Dr. Robert Spiegleman entitled, “Spirits Return – Inspired Images by Haudenosaunee Artists.” Dr. Spiegleman’s talk centers around a 2008 exhibition that featured works by five Haudenosaunee painters &#8211 Peter Jemison, Carson Waterman, David Fadden, John Fadden and Tracey Shenandoah. The exhibition commemorated the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) historical, cultural, and environmental footprint in northeast Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna Valley. Some call the area &#8220The Southern Door,&#8221 a region, which contained and contains Haudenosaunee people and dependent and incorporated peoples from other tribes. It has a marginalized, rich history that needs to be re-integrated into an overall understanding of the Haudenosaunee legacy. Slides of the artist’s work from the exhibition will be shown and discussed at the lecture.

As a sociologist, multimedia artist and writer, Dr. Robert Spiegelman presents widely on New York, Iroquois, Irish and environmental themes. The founder of SullivanClinton.com and Derryveagh.com, Spiegelman revisits hidden histories that link past and present, and foster indigenous values of peace, democracy and nature-in-balance. A college teacher for 12 years, he holds a Doctorate in Sociology from CUNY Graduate Center.

For more information contact the Iroquois Indian Museum at: P.O. Box 7, 324 Caverns Rd. Howes Cave, NY 12092. E-mail [email protected], call 518-296-8949, or visit
www.iroquoismuseum.org

Seeing the Hudson: An Exhibition of Photographs and Paintings

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As part of the 400th Anniversary of Henry Hudson’s sail of discovery, the Alan Klotz Gallery, (511 West 25th Street, NYC) is presenting Seeing the Hudson, a major exhibition of paintings and photographs, which show the river over a period of more than 200 years, from its source in the Adirondacks, to its mouth, 315 miles away in Upper New York Bay. The exhibition will take place September 17th &#8211 October 31st, 2009 with an opening reception on Thursday, September 17, from 6 to 8 pm.

The show begins with work by the 19th century painters of the Hudson River School, arguably the first American art movement, and continues through more contemporary painting and photographs. The exhibition demonstrates the variety of faces that the River presents and the selected works reflect the vision of the individual artists.

In general, 19th century Hudson River School painters saw the River as an almost holy, pristine, primeval landscape, where settlers (if present at all) lived in harmony with an all powerful “Nature“. Photographers (partially due to the nature of their medium) were more interested in the real than the ideal. To them, the profound effect of the “hand of man“ on the environment is what gave proof of man’s dominion over Nature, and was itself a source of pride for a developing nation. Of course, in more recent times, man’s impact on the environment has engendered a more negative judgment. Irony and severe criticism have become part of the view as a spur to environmental action by those who love the River and want to protect, defend, and restore it. All these motivations find form in the exhibition.

Photo: Joseph Antonio Hekking’s (1830 &#8211 1903) Hudson River Valley