Displaying items by tag: john singleton copley

The master framers of Eli Wilner & Company recently completed two hand-carved and gilded, openwork Rococo-style frames for a pair of portraits by John Singleton Copley at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

The existing frames on the portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hooper were in presentable condition, but were not historically appropriate, leading the museum’s curators to seek a solution from Eli Wilner & Company. Copley was known to have selected a specific style of frame for paintings done at the time these portraits were painted.

Though finding antique frames for the paintings would have been the optimal choice, the chances of locating a pair of frames in the appropriate sizes and within budget was a near impossibility.

The collection of American art at the Shelburne Museum tells the story of a new country finding its way through the 1700s and the 1880s. The 540 paintings help illustrate the history of a nation growing through westward expansion. The artwork, with its images of country stores and horse-drawn carriages, also begins to explain the Shelburne Museum itself, which was founded by Electra Havemeyer Webb in 1947.

"(The paintings) were kind of animating the museum for visitors," according to the museum's director, Tom Denenberg. "Without a doubt, the museum is already fixed in her head when she's buying these (paintings) in the late 1950s."

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, has purchased two paintings by pioneering 20th-century American artists -- “Lattice and Awning” by Arthur Dove and “Summer Fantasy” by George Bellows. Dove, an early American modernist who spent most of his life in New York, was not previously represented in a public collection in Los Angeles County. The late-career landscape by Bellows, who is best known for his gritty depictions of day-to-day life, will enhance The Huntington’s collection of works by the realist painter.

Kevin Salatino, Hannah and Russell Kully Director of the Art Collections at The Huntington, said, “We have strengthened our collection of great American paintings dramatically with these acquisitions. ‘Lattice and Awning’ is a superb example of the artist’s work at a peak moment in his career, while ‘Summer Fantasy’ is a fascinating, multifaceted painting that eloquently fills a gap in our collection. Each will add invaluable depth to our display of American art.”

The works will go on view on July 19, when The Huntington opens five new rooms in its Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art, which house one of the largest collections of American art in California. The Huntington’s holdings span from the colonial period through the mid-20th century and include works by John Singleton Copley, Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent, John Sloan, and Robert Motherwell as well as a selection of American decorative arts.

On May 21, a long-lost portrait of Captain Gabriel Maturin by John Singleton Copley will be offered during Bonhams’ American Art sale in New York. The work was painted in 1771 during Copley’s six-month sojourn in New York City, four years prior to the American Revolution. The portrait, which was believed to have been lost until it was located in the U.S. and authenticated in 2011, is expected to fetch between $500,000 and $700,000.

In 1768, Copley painted a portrait of New York-based Major General Thomas Gage, the Commander in Chief of His Majesty’s Armed Forces in America. The work helped establish Copley among General Gage’s team and eventually led to a commission from Captain Gabriel Maturin, General Gage’s Chief of Staff.

Copley, the foremost artist in colonial America, rarely traveled outside of Boston. In fact, prior to his permanent relocation to Europe in 1774, his brief stay in New York City was the artist’s only venture outside of the New England city. Copley’s portrait of Captain Gabriel Maturin is one of approximately 25 portraits painted during the artist’s stay in New York. 

The American Art Fair is celebrating its sixth year at the Bohemian National Hall in New York now through December 5. The show opened on Sunday, December 1 with a gala preview, which also marked the beginning of American Paintings Week.

The American Art Fair focuses on American 19th and 20th century art and features top-notch exhibitors such as Adelson Galleries, Avery Galleries, Driscoll Babcock Galleries, Godel & Co. Fine Art, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, John H. Surovek Gallery and Questroyal Fine Art. This year’s show marks the first time that Tom Veilleux Gallery will be counted among the exhibitors.

Galleries will present everything from landscapes, portraits and still lifes to studies and sculptures. Highlights include a portrait by John Singleton Copley (Alexander Gallery), a landscape by Childe Hassam (Driscoll Babcock Galleries) and other works by Maurice Prendergast (Adelson Galleries), Marsden Hartley (Questroyal Fine Art), and Jacob Lawrence (Jonathan Boos).

Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art In New York City announced that one million people have visited the institution’s New Galleries for American Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts since opening to the public on January 6, 2012. The galleries, which were expanded, reconceived, and reinstalled, average 2,000 visitors per day -- about 11% of the Met’s overall attendance.

The New Galleries present works ranging from the 18^th century through the early 20^th century arranged in chronological order. Highlights from the New Galleries include Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware and works by American masters such as John Singleton Copley, Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent, and Frederic Remington.

The renovation of the Met’s New Galleries was part of a comprehensive, decade-long project to redesign the museum’s entire American Wing. The overhaul added 3,300 square feet of gallery space to the American Wing and allowed for a more in-depth presentation of the Met’s remarkable American art collection. Nearly all of the American Wing’s 17,000 holdings are now on view. 

Fine Lines: American Drawings from the Brooklyn Museum is now on view at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. The exhibition presents over 100 drawings and sketchbooks from the museum’s collection, many of which have rarely been seen.

Fine Lines features works created between 1768 and 1945 and includes drawings by more than 70 artists such as John Singleton Copley (1738-1815), Stuart Davis (1892-1964), Thomas Eakins (1844-1916), William Glackens (1870-1938), Marsden Hartley (1877-1943), Winslow Homer (1836-1910), Edward Hopper (1882-1967), Eastman Johnson (1824-1906), Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986), William Merritt Chase (1849-1916), and John Singer Sargent (1856-1925).

Fine Lines is organized into six categories and draws connections between artists from varying periods and artistic styles. Topics explored in the six sections are portraiture; the nude; the clothed figure; narrative subjects; natural landscapes; urban landscapes; and conservation techniques.

Fine Lines will be on view at the Brooklyn Museum through May 26, 2013.

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia announced plans to build a new gallery to display their works on paper collection. The addition will be housed in the museum’s Historic Landmark Building, which was designed by the acclaimed American architect, Frank Furness (1839-1912). A $250,000 grant from The Richard C. von Hess Foundation will be used to fund the project.

Works on paper are a huge component of PAFA’s permanent collection, encompassing over 75% of the museum’s holdings. The collection features drawings, watercolors, sketchbooks, prints, photographs, and experimental media from all periods of American art. Highlights include a collection of photographs by Thomas Eakins (1844-1916), studies and sketchbooks by William Glackens (1870-1938), and works by John Singleton Copley (1738-1815), Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), Arthur Dove (1880-1946), and Robert Motherwell (1915-1991).

The new gallery will allow the institution to significantly expand public access to its vast collection while keeping the light-sensitive objects safe. A separate space will be allotted for scholars conducting research and curators and faculty who will use the collection for educational purposes. PAFA has selected the Philadelphia-based architectural firm Atkin Olshin Schade to design the Works on Paper Gallery. Construction is expected to start early this year and last until Summer 2013.

Patrons who are familiar with the permanent collection at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts might become befuddled upon their next visit to the institution. Some of the museum’s finest works including Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Dance at Bougival, the pivotal Claude Monet painting, La Japonaise: Camille Monet in a Japanese Costume, five works by Paul Cézanne, five more by Edouard Manet, and two of the masterpieces by Vincent Van Gogh are nowhere to be found.

While some of the works have been lent to museums in the United States, Japan, and Europe to enhance exhibitions, others have been rented to for-profit organizations. Loans between institutions are common practice, but compounded with the large number of works currently out on rent by the MFA, the museum’s own collection appears to be lacking. Currently, 26 of the MFA’s paintings are involved in exhibitions in Italy, which the institution received a hefty yet undisclosed fee for. Some of the works now on view in Italy are two paintings by John Singleton Copley and two Rembrandt portraits as well as single works by Eugène Delacroix, Paolo Veronese, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Paul Gauguin, Alberto Giacometti, and Pablo Picasso.

While the MFA is excited to be raising revenues, the act of charging fees for lending works has been a source of controversy. One of the main duties of public institutions, including art museums, is to share their collections with the public. Many objectors find the practice of lending works for profit to be in direct opposition to this goal.

Other major holdings that are not presently at the MFA are Diego Velázquez’s Luis de Gongora, two works by El Greco, two more by Gustave Courbet, the museum’s only painting by Edvard Munch, and arguably its greatest work by Edgar Degas, Edmondo and Therese Morbilli. While MFA officials argue that they are bolstering the museum’s international reputation, critics feel the institution is suffering for it.

After twenty-two years, Nicholas Capasso will be leaving his post at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA. Capasso, who is currently the deCordova’s deputy director for Curatorial Affairs, has been named the new director of the Fitchburg Art Museum and will start his latest venture on December 3.

During his time at the deCordova, Capasso has overseen a permanent collection that included 3,500 objects, changing gallery exhibitions, and an outdoor sculpture park. He helped to bring recognition to the institution and to reposition it as an important contemporary museum.

While Capasso specializes in contemporary art, he is eager to work with the Fitchburg Art Museum’s collection that spans more than 5,000 years and includes American and European paintings, prints, drawings, ceramics, decorative arts, and Greek, Roman, Asian, and pre-Columbian antiquities. The Museum’s collection, which is housed between twelve galleries, includes works by William Zorach, John Singleton Copley, Joseph Stella, Edward Hopper, Charles Burchfield, Charles Sheeler, Walker Evans, and Georgia O’Keeffe.

Capasso will take over the role of director from the soon-to-be-retired Peter Timms who has held the position since 1973.