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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