Currents
Written by PA Heritage Staff in the Current and Coming category and the Spring 1991 issue Topics in this article:Rediscovering Thomas Eakins
Born in Philadelphia, artist Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) received his early artistic training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He continued his studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France, where drawing from the live nude was the basis for instruction. Eakins returned to Philadelphia and to the Pennsylvania Academy, where he implemented a rigorous curriculum modeled on the traditional French academic system. His methods emphasized the human figure: both his male and female students painted from the live nude, dissected human cadavers, and analyzed photographs of the human form in motion. Thomas Eakins’ insistence on these practices led to his several controversial incidents involving young women students and, eventually, to his dismissal (see “The Many Faces of Thomas Eakins” by Cheryl Leibold in the spring 1991).
After the artist left the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, he continued teaching at other prestigious institutions, including the Art Students’ League and the National Academy of Design. He painted many portraits – mostly uncommissioned – of family, friends, physicians, and those few he genuinely respected. Although he never enjoyed widespread acclaim, his work eventually met with greater recognition by critics, as well as the public, towards the end of his life, laying the foundation for the high regard in which he is held today.
To offer greater understanding of – and insight into – one of the country’s foremost painters of the nineteenth century, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has mounted a landmark exhibition, “Thomas Eakins Rediscovered: At Home, At School, At Work,” which continues through April 5, 1992. The exhibition not only explores Eakins’ extraordinary technical skill and frank style of realism, which rank him as one of the nation’s most important artists, but traces his development as an artist and explores his life at home among a small circle of family and friends, as a student and teacher at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and elsewhere, and at work in his studio. “Thomas Eakins Rediscovered” showcases the Charles Bregler Collection of rare Eakins material acquired by the Pennsylvania Academy in 1985 and never before on view to the public.
“Thomas Eakins Rediscovered: At Home, At School, At Work,” represents a two-fold “rediscovery”: the return to light of many enlightening and surprising objects hidden for many years, and a fresh encounter with one of America’s greatest painters. The exhibit includes rare preparatory studies, examples of works-in-progress, and unique pieces offering glimpses of private moments, juxtaposed with Eakins’ final versions in painting and sculpture to illustrate his artistic process and development. Of noteworthy interest is correspondence dealing with Eakins’ dismissal as director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1886, never-before-seen photographs of the artist and his family, and the critically acclaimed portrait of nineteenth century poet laureate and close friend Walt Whitman (1819-1892).
Addressing several broad themes, “Thomas Eakins Rediscovered” features a recreation of a Victorian period room with wall texts discussing middle class life in nineteenth century America, and the school of the Pennsylvania Academy will conduct life drawing classes in the galleries throughout the duration of the exhibit to highlight contemporary art education and demonstrate how – and why – the legacy of Thomas Eakins continues at the institution. The show also examines the historical use of the figure in art education and the Pennsylvania Academy’s role in providing art education to women. Activity stations throughout the exhibition offer visitors unusual opportunities to probe artistic principles and techniques.
The sixteen hundred piece Charles Bregler Collection was assembled by a devoted admirer who actually studied with Thomas Eakins in the 1880s. Charles Bregler’s dedication to his teacher was absolute, and after Eakins’ death in 1916, he befriended the artist’s widow, Susan Macdowell Eakins. Together they staunchly defended and painstakingly preserved Thomas Eakins’ reputation, which throughout his life was often marred by controversy or completely neglected. After Susan Eakins’ death in 1938, Bregler rescued his mentor’s sketchbooks, letters, photographs, studies, and sculpture from the Eakins residence prior to its sale. He sequestered these materials in his own home, where they remained – virtually inaccessible – for fifty years.
“Thomas Eakins Rediscovered: At Home, At School, At Work,” serves as a focal point for Philadelphia’s celebration of the bicentennial of the ratification of the Bill of Rights. As an artist who refused to compromise his ideals for the sake of convention, Eakins remains a champion of artistic freedom. Dozens of public programs – including exhibitions by museums throughout the city, theater productions, conferences, lectures, walking tours, studio classes, gallery talks, and family activities – will complement the Pennsylvania Academy’s exhibition. A major study, Eakins Rediscovered, cataloging more than two hundred paintings by the master and works by his wife and friends, will be published in 1992.
Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is the oldest art school and museum in the country.
For additional information regarding “Thomas Eakins Rediscovered” and related public programs, write: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Broad and Cherry Sts., Philadelphia, PA 19102; or telephone (215) 972-7642. There is a charge for admission.
Just for Nice
Nearly three hundred carvings made to amuse … entertain … and simply delight viewers are on exhibit at the Historical Society of Berks County in Reading through Saturday, September 21 [1991].
“Just for Nice: The Carving and Whittling Magic of Southeastern Pennsylvania” offers visitors an unusual opportunity to explore the Pennsylvania German traditions of woodcarvers and whittlers of southeastern Pennsylvania. The exhibition showcases many rare and unique objects that have never before been publicly displayed. The works of thirty documented woodcarvers – ranging in size from miniature birds (measuring two inches or less) to a sixteen foot diorama – include birds, animals, people, “bird trees,” hunting scenes, cigar store figures, canes and walking sticks, and companion pieces, such as antique butter prints and bag stamps. “Just for Nice” is the largest exhibition of regional carvings in the United States to date.
Objects featured in the exhibition, all carved in southeastern Pennsylvania, span from the early nineteenth century through the late 1980s. All of the carvers represented are deceased and, except for very few, were not formally trained. Folk art specialists have long recognized southeastern Pennsylvania as the center of a folk art sculpture tradition by craftsmen who possessed innate ability to create a distinctive work of art by taking a household knife to a block of wood. Art historians have also cited the carvers’ love for form, color, and design as integral and important components of both their work and recreation. Carvers represented run the gamut from anonymous jail prisoners to the grandfather of famous contemporary singer Daryl Hall (of the popular duo, Hall and Oates).
Lenders to the exhibition include the Hershey Museum of American Life, Hershey, Landis Valley Museum, Lancaster, and the Schwenkfelder Library, Pennsburg, Pennsylvania; the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Wilmington, Delaware; and the Museum of American Folk Art, New York. The exhibition was coordinated by Richard S. Machmer of Hamburg, Berks County, a well known researcher and collector, as well as a carver.
“Just for Nice: The Carving and Whittling Magic of Southeastern Pennsylvania” is accompanied by a lavishly illustrated exhibition catalogue by the same title. Made possible through a grant by Sotheby’s, the Manhattan auction house, the book has been widely acclaimed as the definitive guide to the folk art sculpture of the Commonwealth’s southeastern counties. Just for Nice includes a reference section, biographical sketches of carvers, descriptive notes, and full color photographs of objects on view.
For more information, write: Historical Society of Berks County, 940 Centre Ave., Reading, PA 19601; or telephone (215) 375-4375 or 562-2012.
Telling Tales
Through April 19, 1992, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia is giving new meaning to the old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” A landmark exhibition, “Telling Tales: Nineteenth Century Narrative Painting from the Collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,” offers fifty different stories told through fifty intriguing works of painting and sculpture. Drawn from one of the most comprehensive collections found in any museum devoted to American art, “Telling Tales” illustrates the richness and depth of the institution’s extensive holdings of historical, literary, and genre pieces.
During the nineteenth century, American artists drew inspiration from traditional sources, such as the Bible, Shakespeare, classical antiquity, and European history. Narrative art was venerated for both its instructional and aesthetic content. Pictures that told stories were expected to shape the character and refine the intellect of those who saw them. These works, often large in scale, attracted tremendous crowds; for example, Benjamin West’s dramatic – and huge – Death on the Pale Horse was in such great demand that the directors of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts mortgaged their building to purchase it in 1836.
Traditional literary sources and historical events provided subject matter for European artists educated at the Royal Academy in London, who deemed narrative art far superior to portraiture, landscapes and still lifes. The first segment of “Telling Tales” consists of thirteen paintings reflecting this European belief, including Dennis A. Volozon’s Homer Reciting His Poems in the City of Argos (1811), King Solomon and the Iron Worker (1863) by Christian Schussele, and Charles R. Leslie’s The Murder of Rutland by Lord Clifford (1815).
American artists of the nineteenth century used the same subject matter and a style similar to their European counterparts. While European audiences were familiar with many of the scenes depicted, American viewers were not. About the middle of the century, American artists began concentrating on more familiar domestic subjects, helping to forge a national identity. The second phase of the exhibition consists of vignettes culled from American history and contemporary life, among them Thomas Birch’s Perry’s Victory on Lake Erie (1814), The Young Merchants (1842) by William Page, and William B. T. Trego’s Battery of Light Artillery en Route (1882). Other artists represented are Michele Corne, James Hamilton, George H. Comegys, William Sidney Mount, James G. Clonney, and Pennsylvanian Peter F. Rothermel.
The burgeoning Industrial Revolution of the second half of the nineteenth century afforded Americans both the wealth and leisure time for international travel or what has become known as the “Grand Tour.” Art patrons frequented the annual exhibitions of the Paris Salons, where idealized versions of European life and history predominated. American painters submitting to these annual exhibitions turned out paintings loosely related to European themes, but drawn heavily from their own imaginations. These artists created fantasy worlds filled with elaborate costumes and opulent architectural settings, encouraging viewers to invent stories based on their own reactions to the images. Included in this third and final section of “Telling Tales: Nineteenth Century Narrative Painting from the Collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts” are such Gilded Age fantasies as The Favorite Falcon (1879) by Thomas Hovenden, Julian Story’s Marie Charlotte Corday (1889), Dying Brigand (1855) by Edward Harrison May, Jr., and William Merrit Chase’s “Keying Up” – The Court Jester (1875), in addition to works by Daniel Ridgway Knight, Anna Elizabeth Klumpe, and Edward Lord Weeks.
A catalogue written by Pennsylvania Academy curator and exhibition organizer Susan Danly accompanies the show. “Telling Tales” will be circulated nationally beginning in January 1993.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, established in 1805, collects and exhibits the work of American artists. The museum is located in center0city Philadelphia at 118 North Broad Street, two blocks from City Hall. There is an admission charge.
For additional information on visiting hours and group tours, write: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Broad and Cherry Sts., Philadelphia, PA 19102; or telephone (215) 972-7600 or 972-7642.
A Victorian Childhood
Following the end of the Civil War, middle class Victorian families became indulgent, allowing children the opportunity to play, while at the same time making sure they were taught skills they would need later as adults. Young girls, particularly, were encouraged to amuse themselves with dolls, baby carriages, miniature sewing machines, child-sized kitchen implements, and toys that would prepare them for their adult roles as wives, mothers, and homemakers. Until the mid-nineteenth century, only adult dolls were available, but the French invention of a “baby” doll permitted girls to imagine that they were, indeed, taking care of their own children. Young boys were encouraged to play more vigorous and imaginative games with building blocks, toy soldiers, and trains.
Toys of the early nineteenth century were usually made of wood, but the rapid – and intense – growth of industrialization following the Civil War spurred manufacturers to construct toys and games with a wide variety of materials, including paper and cardboard, and metals such as cast iron and tinplate. The use of color lithography in the dosing decades of the nineteenth century gave toymakers the opportunity to make a wide array of games by combining paper and metal. Lithographed games and toys were extremely popular with German manufacturers, which sold one-thud of their toys to the seemingly insatiable American market.
To examine the toys of children during the last century, Pennypacker Mills, a Montgomery County historic house museum, has mounted an exhibition entitled simply, and appropriately, “A Victorian Childhood.” The exhibition of toys, games, clothing, and related objects associated with childhood years illustrates how Victorian period children both played and lived. On view are an authentic Civil War era doll carriage, doll house furnishings, and clothing worn by the children of former Gov. and Mrs. Samuel W. Pennypacker, owners of the handsome mansion.
“A Victorian Childhood” will continue through Sunday, November 30 [1991].
The Pennypacker family lived at Pennypacker Mills from 1900 to 1916. The house has been extensively restored and period rooms interpret the family’s lifestyle at the turn-of-the-century through original furniture and fine and decorative arts.
Pennypacker Mills, located at Route 73 and Haldeman Road, Schwenksville, is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 A.M. to 4 P.M., and Sunday, from 1 to 4 P. M. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.
To obtain additional information regarding “A Victorian Childhood” and changing exhibits, write: Pennypacker Mills, 5 Haldeman Rd., Schwenksville, PA 19473; or telephone (215) 287-9349.
Showing Scrimshaw
Exquisitely crafted examples of nineteenth century scrimshaw by American whaleman are on exhibit at the Philadelphia Maritime Museum through Sunday, December 1 [1991]. “The Whaleman’s Art: Scrimshaw from the Collections of H. Richard Dietrich, Jr., and the Dietrich American Foundation” features nearly one hundred works drawn from the extensive holdings of whaling artifacts and related objects of the well known Dietrich collections.
Introducing nineteenth century whaling through paintings, prints, story panels, and excerpts from books and diaries, the exhibition notes that by the 1850s, New England was the base for more than seven hundred whaling ships. During the “Golden Age of Whaling” – between 1825 and 1865 – the industry employed more than twenty thousand individuals each year. The focus of “The Whaleman’s Art” is not the economics of the industry, but the distinctive art form and the delicate art work created by whalemen using practical implements to carve whale teeth and whalebone, walrus tusks, wood, and other materials that came into their possession during the course of their long voyages.
The most impressive aspect of the exhibit is the wide variety of materials and themes used by the carvers. In fact, much of the scrimshaw had practical applications on board ship; the men carved tools for sail repair, blocks for tackle, dividers for navigation, and fids for splicing lines. How ever, most of the scrimshaw had utilitarian domestic uses or featured art work on domestic themes. The contrast between these delicate works illustrates a longing for home and the difficult day-to-day life at sea.
“The Whaleman’s Art: Scrimshaw from the Collections of H. Richard Dietrich, Jr., and the Dietrich American Foundation” showcases outstanding examples of scrimshaw made for use in the home, such as a miniature doll’s bed, a pair of candleholders, a child’s set of dominoes, a ditty box for holding sewing implements, a spool holder, knitting needles, clothespins, a jagging wheel (for cutting pies and other kitchen chores), a serving fork, a rolling pin, and a sugar scoop. The most popular endeavor of the day, not surprisingly, was the creation of a portrait of a woman – either real or imaginary – on a whale’s tooth. Whalemen often copied portraits of women found in popular nineteenth century illustrated periodicals. Examples in the exhibit show women in a drawing room, frequently with children.
Thoughts of home were expressed in patriotic or civic images, such as portraits of George and Martha Washington, and depictions of the American eagle and harbors of major port cities. Whalemen, however, were not immune to the adventure and beauty of the scenes they encountered during their voyages. Engraved whales’ teeth illustrate the arduous task of hunting whales and record the exotic inhabitants, flora, and fauna of foreign lands. Others are emblazoned with detailed drawings of whaling vessels; one of the ship portraits included in “The Whaleman’s Art” was inspired by a voyage of the Susan of Nantucket. Created by the talented Frederick Myrick, these teeth are highly sought by collectors because of their artistic merit and, particularly, because unlike most scrimshaw, they are signed and dated.
American novelist Herman Melville (1819-1891), who immortalized nineteenth century whaling in Moby Dick, was amazed by the diversity of scrimshaw. “Throughout the Pacific, and also in Nantucket, and New Bedford, and Sag Harbor,” he wrote, “you will come across lively sketches of whales and whaling-scenes, graven by the fishermen themselves on Sperm Whale teeth …. Some of them have little boxes of dentistical-looking implements, specially intended for the skrimshandering business. But, in general, they toil with their jack-knives alone; and, with that almost omnipotent tool of the sailor, they will turn you out anything you please, in the way of a mariner’s fancy.”
Additional information regarding “The Whaleman’s Art: Scrimshaw from the Collections of H. Richard Dietrich, Jr., and the Dietrich American Foundation” is available by writing: Philadelphia Maritime Museum, 321 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19106; or by telephoning (215) 925-5439. Admission is charged.
An American Impressionist
Inspired by scenic details from the coast of Maine and villages in England, the mountains and the mining towns of the American West, the wooded copses of eastern Pennsylvania and England, and the French countryside, Walter Elmer Schofield’s work possesses a universal appeal. Born in Philadelphia in 1867, Schofield studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the fine Arts from 1889 to 1892, and entered the Academie Julian in Paris in 1892. He is best known as one of several American impressionist painters of the New Hope School, whose work is experiencing a period of rediscovery and significant critical reevaluation. He lived and worked primarily in the Philadelphia area, although his later life was spent between Chebeague Island, Maine, and his home in Cornwall, England.
Walter Elmer Schofield’s early influences came from Robert Henri and Adolf Bouguereau. His style during the late 1890s was “tonalist,” an impressionistic style in muted, nearly monochromatic, earthtones with soft, misty outlines. In 1901, the artist settled in England and began painting landscapes with a broader view and lighter palette. His exposure to the en plein air (“painting outdoors”) style of the English and French artists led to his completion of numerous canvases of a single location, all the while exploring the changing light and effects of the seasons.
By 1915, Schofield was ranked with Edward Willis Redfield and Gardner Symons as the most famous masters of the Pennsylvania School. Although he was a great traveler, he seemed to have been mainly influenced by American artists. Among the artists in his circle of friends were Henri, John Sloan, William Glackens, Everett Shinn, and George Luks, all of whom later became members of the so-called “Ash Can School” for their portrayals of lower and middle class urban life. Considered vulgar by critics, their rebellion against established art traditions produced paintings which were vehemently despised by detractors because they were not in accord with prevailing tastes in art. Schofield’s focus, however, was almost entirely on landscapes, and even his paintings of buildings are basically devoid of human life and forms. Although he, too, disliked the “artiness” of painters such as James McNeill Whistler, Schofield found satisfaction in creating what he considered portraits of nature. In the 1930s, he spent much of his time in California, Arizonia, and New Mexico teaching and painting scenes of the American West.
The James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown is showing, through Sunday, November 3 [1991], an exhibition entitled “An American Impressionist: Walter Elmer Schofield;’ which showcases a broad selection of Pennsylvania landscapes, seascapes, Western views, and English country gardens. The exhibition highlights twenty-two works selected from the permanent collection of the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College, Collegeville, and twelve works loaned by private collectors.
Additional information regarding “An American Impressionist” is available by writing: James A. Michener Art Museum, 138 South Pine St., Doylestown, PA 18901-4626; or by telephoning (215) 340-9807 or (215) 340-9800. There is a charge for admission.
Pretty Deadly
No one who eagerly awaits the season’s first strawberry-rhubarb pie would ever feel threatened by the familiar pinkish-hued vegetable. Yet rhubarb is only one of many plants found throughout Pennsylvania that are poisonous in some form to humans. In the case of rhubarb, the foliage is poisonous and, depending on variables such as an individual’s physical size and the amount ingested, can be deadly. Only the stems – cooked and sweetened – are used in one of the nation’s favorite desserts.
“Pretty Deadly: Poisonous Plants of Forest, Field, and Garden,” on view in the new Natural History Gallery at The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, explores poisonous and dangerous plants and fungi through the exhibition of illustrations and pressed and live specimens. The exhibition is presented jointly by the The Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon University, where curators have selected more than fifty works of art and botanical illustrations from the institute’s extensive collections spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Phipps Conservatory in Schenley Park is also highlighting the danger of poisonous plants in conjunction with “Pretty Deadly: Poisonous Plants of Forest, Field, and Garden.”
The exhibition focuses on three types of plants: those commonly found in woodlands, gardens, and homes. The sections of each plant that are dangerous or poisonous are identified, and the exhibit explains harmful effects, ranging from minor skin irritations to serious illness or even death. Throughout the exhibition, a central “bouquet” of poisonous plants will be changed periodically. “Pretty Deadly” also explores the centuries-old connection between botany and pharmacology.
Educational programs to be held in conjunction with the exhibition will include classes for children and adults, tours, and a related display in the museum’s Discovery Room. A brochure describing some of the more common poisonous plants is available, in addition to information distributed by the Pittsburgh Poison Center, which has mounted a display featuring publications on plant poisons and identification guides. “Pretty Deadly: Poisonous Plants of Forest, Field, and Garden,” will continue through Sunday, October 20 [1991].
The exhibition is the second installation in the museum’s extensively renovated Natural History Gallery, devoted to changing and temporary shows. The gallery, with state-of-the-art climate control and enhanced security measures, allows the museum to stage traveling exhibitions of rare and fragile materials on loan from other natural history institutions, as well as facilitates the safe display of treasures from the museum’s own holdings.
Additional information is available by writing: The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213; or by telephoning (412) 622-3131 or 622-3328. There is an admission charge.