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Double Lives: American Painters as Illustrators, 1850-1950

September 6 - November 23, 2008

 

Winslow Homer, Frederic Remington, Childe Hassam, Henry Farny, N. C. Wyeth and John Sloan are among the artists featured in Double Lives: American Painters as Illustrators, 1850-1950, on view at the Brandywine River Museum from September 6 to November 23, 2008. The exhibition compares and contrasts fine art painting and illustration, and charts their development in the United States over time through the eyes of a select group of artists who engaged in both.

American illustration flourished between 1850 and 1950, with advances in print technology combining with a public appetite for illustrated newspapers, magazines, and novels to create enormous growth in the production of printed material and a great need for professional illustrators. Winslow Homer first established his reputation with Civil War sketches that appeared in Harper's Weekly and Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper; Frederic Remington and Henry Farny gained their first recognition through illustrations for western stories in popular magazines; and the Impressionist Childe Hassam began his career as a successful illustrator of children's books. Each of the artists represented in the exhibition also painted important independent work, and Double Lives compares and contrasts examples of the two practices within each artist's career.

Double Lives also addresses the sometimes uneasy relationship between the two professions. An emerging view by critics at the turn of the 20th century was that illustration was on a "lower plane" than the fine art of easel painting, partly because of its commercial associations and partly because it contradicted the romantic idea of the artist as a free spirit. The exhibition offers a unique opportunity to see side-by-side examples of original illustrations and easel painting by some of the foremost artists of the period.

Double Lives: American Painters as Illustrators, 1850-1950, has been organized by the New Britain Museum of Art with guest curator Richard J. Boyle. The exhibition will be documented in an illustrated catalogue with an essay by Boyle. The presentation of this exhibition at the Brandywine River Museum is supported by The Davenport Family Foundation Fund for Exhibitions.

 

Selection of images from Double Lives

 

(above: Henry F. Farny (1847-1916), Last Stand of the Patriarch, 1906, Watercolor and gouache. Private Collection )

 

(above: Henry F. Farny (1847-1916), Indian Frontiersmen, Dogsled and Team, before 1894, Pen and ink on paper. Brandywine River Museum. Museum Purchase, 2004)

 

(above: Childe Hassam (1859-1935) , Le Jour du Grand Prix, 1887, Oil on canvas. New Britain Museum of American Art. Grace Judd Landers Fund, 1943)

 

(above: Grant Wood (1891-1942), Haying, 1939, Oil on canvas on paperboard mounted on hardboard. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Irwin Strasburger )

 

(above: N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945), At the Cards in Cluny's Cage, 1913, Oil on canvas, Illustration for Robert Lewis Stevenson, Kidnapped; Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913. Brandywine River Museum. Bequest of Mrs. Russell G. Colt, 1986. 86.7.5)

 

Exhibition Checklist

 
Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911)
May Day Morning, 1890-94
Oil on canvas
Yale University Art Gallery
Edwin Austin Abbey Memorial Collection
 
Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911)
Organist at the Gloucester Cathedral, circa 1901
Oil on canvas
New Britain Museum of American Art
Gift of the Harrison Cady Estate, 1971
 
Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911)
And Strove the Maids to Win (Soldier and Peasant Girl), 1881
Ink on paper
Illustration for Annie Fields, "Pastor Dankwardt,"
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, January 1882
Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Fowler, 1978
 
Gerrit Beneker (1882-1934)
The Provincetown Plumber, 1921
Oil on canvas
Provincetown Art Association and Museum Collection
Gift of Alfred Morris
 
Gerrit Beneker (1882-1934)
Sure We'll Finish the Job, 1918
Liberty Loan poster
Collection of Katrina Beneker
 
Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975)
Portrait of Denys Wortman, 1953
Oil on canvas mounted on board
New Britain Museum of American Art
Stephen B. Lawrence Fund, 1954
 
Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975)
Open Hearth, 1929
Pen and ink and wash on paper
Illustration published in Thomas Hart Benton,
An Artist in America, New York: R. M. McBride, 1937
John and Kay Callison Collection
 
Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975)
Little Cotton Pickers, 1929
Pen and ink and wash on paper
Illustration published in Thomas Hart Benton,
An Artist in America, New York: R. M. McBride, 1937
John and Kay Callison Collection
 
Robert Frederick Blum (1857-1903)
Master Will You Condescend (Rickshaw Men), 1893
Pen and ink on paper
Robert Frederick Blum, "An Artist in Japan," Scribner's Monthly, June 1893
Brandywine River Museum Collection
The Jane Collette Wilcox Collection, 1982
82.16.17
 
Robert Frederick Blum (1857-1903)
Two Idlers, 1888-89
Oil on canvas
National Academy of Design
 
Fidelia Bridges (1834-1923)
Apple Blossoms, not dated
Watercolor on paper
Private Collection
 
Fidelia Bridges (1834-1923)
Bird in Thicket, not dated
Oil on canvas
Private Collection
 
Nathaniel Currier (1813-1888), publisher
Drawn by William K. Hewitt (1813-1893)
The Awful Conflagration of the Steamboat "Lexington" in Long Island Sound, 1840 Photographic reproduction of color lithograph
The Museum of the City of New York
 
Frank Vincent DuMond (1865-1951)
Grassy Hill, 1920
Oil on canvas
Florence Griswold Museum
Gift of Elisabeth DuMond Perry
 
Frank V. DuMond (1865-1951)
Untitled, 1896
Blue ink on paper highlighted with gold
Title page design for Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Christmas issue, December 1896
Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators
 
Frank V. DuMond (1865-1951)
At Sleeping Water
Oil on canvas
Illustration for Century Magazine, July 1900
Courtesy of Illustration House, New York
 
George Henry Durrie (1820-1863)
Winter in New England, 1851
Oil on panel
New Britain Museum of American Art
Stephen B. Lawrence Fund, 1958
 
George Henry Durrie (1820-1863)
Winter in the Country: A Cold Morning, 1867
Hand-colored lithograph
Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts
Gift of Lenore B. and Sidney A. Alpert supplemented with Museum Acquisitions Funds
 
Henry F. Farny (1847-1916)
Indian Frontiersmen, Dogsled and Team, before 1894
Pen and ink on paper
Brandywine River Museum
Museum Purchase, 2004
 
Henry F. Farny (1847-1916)
Last Stand of the Patriarch, 1906
Watercolor and gouache
Private Collection
 
Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956)
Possendorf (Village Church), 1929
Oil on canvas
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
Henry D. Gilpin Fund, 1951
 
Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956)
Kin-der-Kids, 1906
Tear sheet for Chicago Sunday Tribune, June 17, 1906
San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection
The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library
 
Frederick Frieseke (1874-1939)
Miss Chromatic's Singing, circa 1897
Pen and ink on paste board
Courtesy of Nicholas Kilmer
 
Frederick Carl Frieseke (1874-1939)
The Bird Cage, circa 1910
Oil on canvas
New Britain Museum of American Art
John Butler Talcott Fund
 
Arthur Getz (1913-1996)
Diner at Night (A Tribute to Edward Hopper), circa 1950
Oil on canvas
Sarah Getz Collection
 
Arthur Getz (1913-1996)
52nd Street Strip Joint, circa 1950-51
Casein tempera on Whatman paper mounted on chip board
Cover for The New Yorker May 19, 1951
Sarah Getz Collection
 
William Glackens (1870-1938)
Patrick Joseph Went and Bought Himself a Grocery Store on Monroe Street, 1912
Illustration for E. R. Lipsett, "Denny the Jew," Everybody's Magazine, vol. 27, no. 1, July 1912
Ink and graphite on board
Brandywine River Museum
The Jane Collette Willcox Collection, 2003
2003.2.3
 
William Glackens (1870-1938)
Washington Square Winter, 1910
Oil on canvas
New Britain Museum of American Art
Charles F. Smith Fund, 1944
 
Childe Hassam (1859-1935)
Le Jour du Grand Prix, 1887
Oil on canvas
New Britain Museum of American Art
Grace Judd Landers Fund, 1943
 
Childe Hassam (1859-1935)
"So they all sat down some on big stones and the others on the grass," circa 1887
Pen and ink on paper
Illustration for Margaret Sidney, Dilly and the Captain, Boston: D. Lothrop, 1887
Minute Man National Historical Park Museum Collection, Concord, Massachusetts
 
Winslow Homer (1836-1910)
Skirmish in the Wilderness, 1864
Oil on canvas
New Britain Museum of American Art
Museum of American Art Harriet Russell Stanley Fund, 1944
 
Winslow Homer (1836-1910)
News From the War, 1862
Wood engraving on paper
Illustration for Harper's Weekly, June 14, 1862
New Britain Museum of American Art
William F. Brooks Fund, 1977
 
Winslow Homer (1836-1910)
Camping Out in the Adirondack Mountains, 1874
Wood engraving on paper
Illustration for Harper's Weekly, November 7, 1874
JULI Collection, Judith Vance Weld Brown and Lindsley Wellman, New Britain, Connecticut Promised gift to the New Britain Museum of American Art
 
Rockwell Kent (1882-1971)
The Whale as a Dish, 1930
Pen and ink on paper
Illustration for Chapter 65, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chicago: Lakeside Press, 1930
Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators
 
Rockwell Kent (1882-1971)
Seascape, 1933-35
Oil on canvas
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
Gift of Erhard Wayne, 1952
 
John LaFarge (1835-1910)
The Three Wise Men, 1868
Oil on canvas
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Gift of Edward W. Hooper, 1890
 
John LaFarge (1835-1910)
 
The Children, 1864
Wood engraving on paper
 
Enoch Alone, 1864
Wood engraving on paper
 
Enoch's Supplication, 1864
Wood engraving on paper
 
The Island Home, 1864
Wood engraving on paper
 
The Lovers, 1864
Wood engraving on paper
 
Philip and Annie in the Wood, 1864
Wood engraving on paper
 
The Seal of Silence, 1864
Wood engraving on paper
 
Shipwrecked, 1864
Wood engraving on paper
 
The Solitary, 1864
Wood engraving on paper
 
Illustrations for Alfred Lord Tennyson, Enoch Arden, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1865
Collection of Henry Adams
 
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954)
"On these adventures we always went very well dressed," circa 1942
Pen and ink on paper
Illustration for Daniel Defoe, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, New York: Heritage Press, 1942
Brandywine River Museum
Museum Volunteers' Purchase Fund, 1984
84.8
 
Reginald Marsh (1898-1954)
Strokey's Bar, 1940
Watercolor on paper
New Britain Museum of American Art
Charles F. Smith Fund, 1941
 
Henry McCarter (1864-1942)
The Witch Wife, 1911
Pen and ink on paper
Illustration for Century Magazine, April 1911
Kelly Collection of American Illustration
 
Henry McCarter (1864-1942)
Bells, No. 6, circa 1941
Oil on canvas
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Bequest of Henry McCarter
 
Willard Leroy Metcalf (1858-1925)
November Mosaic, 1922
Oil on canvas
New Britain Museum of American Art
John Butler Talcott Fund, 1925
 
Willard Leroy Metcalf (1858-1925)
Zuni Planting Scene, 1882
Gouache on paper
New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe
Museum acquisition, 1965
 
Thomas Moran (1837-1926)
The Wilds of Lake Superior (Western Landscape), 1864
Oil on canvas
New Britain Museum of American Art
Charles F. Smith Fund, 1944
 
Thomas Moran (1837-1926)
View from Glenora, Stickeen River, Alaska, 1879
Carbon pencil and ink on textured paper
Illustration for W. H. Bell, "View from Glenora, Stickeen River, Alaska,"
Scribner's Monthly, April 1879
Brandywine River Museum
Purchased with funds given in memory of Eloise W. Choate and other funds, 2004
2004.6
 
William Page (1811-1885)
The Young Merchants, 1842
Oil on canvas
42 1/8 x 36 1/4"
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
Bequest of Henry C. Carey (The Carey Collection)
 
Book related to above:
Seba Smith. "The Young Traders," in The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1844
Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1844, facing page 221
The Young Merchants, 1842
Illustration by William Page (1811-1885)
Private Collection
 
Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966)
Dusk, 1942
Oil on masonite
New Britain Museum of American Art
Charles F. Smith Fund, 1966
 
Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966)
La Palazzina (Villa Gori), Siena, 1903
Oil on stretched paper
Illustration for Edith Wharton, Italian Villas and Their Gardens, New York: The Century Company, 1904
Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators
 
John Quidor (1801-1881)
A Knickerbocker Tea Party, 1866
Oil on canvas
New Britain Museum of American Art
Charles F. Smith Fund, 1953
 
Ellen Emmet Rand (1874-1941)
Rainy Day, circa 1890s
Watercolor on paper
6 1/2 x 3"
Illustration for Vogue or Harpers, circa 1890s
Ellen E. Rand
 
Ellen Emmet Rand (1874-1941)
Dog Show, circa 1890s
Pen and ink on paper
12 1/2 x 18"
Illustration for Vogue, circa 1890s
Ellen E. Rand
 
Ellen Emmet Rand (1874-1941)
Frederick MacMonnies, circa. 1898-99
Oil on canvas
William Benton Museum of Art at the University of Connecticut, Storrs
Gift of John A., William B., and Christopher T. E. Rand, 1967
 
Frederic Remington (1861-1909)
They Were a Hard Looking Set, 1887
Ink on paper
Illustration for John Bigelow, "After Geronimo," Outing Magazine, March 1887.
Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Catherine Auchincloss, 1989
89.7
 
Frederic Remington (1861-1909)
The Canadian Mounted Police on a
"Musical Ride" - Charge!" 1887
Oil on academy board
Brandywine River Museum
Museum Purchase, 1988
88.18.1
 
Frederic Remington (1861-1909)
He lay where he had been jerked, still as a log, 1893
Oil on canvas
Gerald Peters Gallery
 
Ben Shahn (1898-1969)
This is Nazi Brutality, 1943
Offset lithograph
40 1/8 x 28 _"
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Gift of the Office of War Information
 
Ben Shahn (1898-1969)
Sketch for mural in the Social Security Building, circa 1940-42
Tempera on paper
Collection of Rhoda and David T. Chase
 
Ben Shahn (1898-1969)
Inside Looking Out, 1953
Casing on panel
Illustration for Seventeen Magazine, 1953
The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
Museum Purchase, 1953
 
Everett Shinn (1876-1953)
French Vaudeville, 1937
Oil on canvas
New Britain Museum of American Art
Harriett Russell Stanley Fund, 1946
 
Everett Shinn (1876-1953)
Mr. Fezziwig's Ball, 1938
Watercolor on paper
Unpublished illustration for Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol in Prose (New York:
Garden City Publishing Co., 1938).
Brandywine River Museum.
The Jane Collette Wilcox Collection, 1982
82.16.247
 
John Sloan (1871-1951)
Violinist - Will Bradner, 1903
Oil on canvas
Delaware Art Museum
Gift of Helen Farr Sloan, 1970
 
John Sloan (1871-1951)
Political Action, 1912
Crayon, India ink, chalk and opaque white on board
Illustration for The Masses, January 1913
Delaware Art Museum
Gift of Helen Farr Sloan, 1984
 
John Sloan (1871-1951)
During the Strike, 1913
Crayon and graphite on paper
Illustration for The Masses, September 1913
Delaware Art Museum
Gift of Helen Farr Sloan, 2000
 
Ben Solowey (1900-1978)
Rae Seated (Green Dress), 1935
Oil on canvas
James A. Michener Art Museum
Museum purchase funded by Anne and Joseph Gardocki
 
Ben Solowey (1900-1978)
Ethel Barrymore in "The Love Duel," 1929
Charcoal on paper
Created for New York Times, April 7, 1929, Theater section
Collection of the Studio of Ben Solowey
 
Elihu Vedder (1836-1923)
Untitled, 1882
Watercolor on illustration board
Illustration for cover, Century Magazine, February 1882
Courtesy of Illustration House, New York
 
Elihu Vedder (1836-1923)
The Questioner of the Sphynx, 1863
Oil on canvas
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Bequest of Mrs. Martin Brimmer, 1906
 
Grant Wood (1891-1942)
Haying, 1939
Oil on canvas on paperboard mounted on hardboard
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Irwin Strasburger
 
Grant Wood (1891-1942)
Sentimental Ballad, 1940
Oil on masonite
New Britain Museum of American Art
Charles F. Smith Fund, 1962
 
N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945)
Dying Winter, 1934
Oil on canvas
Brandywine River Museum
Museum purchase, 1982
82.11
 
N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945)
At the Cards in Cluny's Cage, 1913
Oil on canvas
Illustration for Robert Lewis Stevenson, Kidnapped; Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913
Brandywine River Museum
Bequest of Mrs. Russell G. Colt, 1986
86.7.5
 
Movie still from Clarence Brown's The Yearling, MGM, 1946
Scene based on N.C. Wyeth's Penny Tells the Story of the Bear Fight
Photofest Film Stills Archive
Courtesy of Photofest
 
Book related to above:
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. The Yearling
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1939, facing page 52
Illustrated by N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945)
Penny Tells the Story of the Bear Fight, 1939
Illustration by N.C. Wyeth
Collection of the Brandywine River Museum Library
 
N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945)
Pyle's Barn
1917 / circa 1921
Oil on canvas
Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Amanda K. Berls, 1980
80.3.36
For Brandywine venue only:
 
N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945)
"They fought with him on foot more than three hours, both before him and behind him," 1917
Oil on canvas
Illustration for The Boy's King Arthur, edited by Sidney Lanier, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1917
Private Collection
For Brandywine venue only

 

Labels (tombstone) for BRM works that will be included in Double Lives

 

Reginald Marsh (1898-1954)
Illustration for Moll Flanders, ca. 1942
Pen and ink on paper
Brandywine River Museum
Museum Volunteers' Purchase Fund, 1984
84.8
 
Thomas Moran (1837 - 1926)
View from Glenora, Stickeen River, Alaska, 1897
Carbon pencil and ink on textured paper
Brandywine River Museum
Purchased with funds given in memory of Eloise W. Choate and other funds, 2004
2004.6
 
Frederic Remington (1861-1909)
They Were a Hard Looking Set, 1887
Ink on paper
Illustration for John Bigelow, "After Geronimo,"
Outing Magazine, March 1887.
Brandywine River Museum
Gift of Catherine Auchincloss, 1989
89.7
 
Frederic Remington (1861-1909)
The Canadian Mounted Police on a
"Musical Ride" - Charge!" 1887
Oil on academy board
Brandywine River Museum
Museum Purchase, 1988
88.18.1
 
Everett Shinn (1876-1953)
Mr. Fezziwig's Ball, 1938
Watercolor on paper
Unpublished illustration for Charles Dickens,
A Christmas Carol in Prose (New York:
Garden City Publishing Co., 1938).
Brandywine River Museum.
The Jane Collette Wilcox Collection, 1982
82.16.247
 
N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945)
Dying Winter, 1934
Oil on canvas
Brandywine River Museum
Museum purchase, 1982
82.11
 
N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945)
At the Cards in Cluny's Cage, 1913
Oil on canvas
Illustration for Robert Lewis Stevenson, Kidnapped; Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913)
Brandywine River Museum
Bequest of Mrs. Russell G. Colt, 1986
86.7.5


Editor's note: Resource Library readers may also enjoy:

Double Lives: American Painters as Illustrators, 1850-1950 will be on exhibit at New Britain Museum of Art December 12 through February 22, 2009.

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