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Scenic Views: Painters
of the Scalp Level School Revisited
November 09, 2008 - February 01,
2009
To launch the fiftieth
anniversary celebrations in 2009, the Westmoreland Museum of American Art
mounts an exhibition celebrating its history and future
as the primary repository and research organization for
southwestern Pennsylvania artists. SCENIC VIEWS: Painters from the Scalp
Level School Revisited opens November 9 and runs through February 1,
2009. It is dedicated in memory of founding Westmoreland director Dr. Paul
A. Chew, whose primary research on this group of artists resulted in three
important publications and an extensive collection housed at the Museum.
Under Chew's tenure as director, noted art historian Dr. William H. Gerdts
recognized the Museum for its research, collections, and exhibitions on
regional artists in his encyclopedic book, Art Across America. (right:
William Coventry Wall (1810-1886), VIEW ALONG THE ALLEGHENY NEAR
ASPINWALL, PA (TRACKS ALONG THE RIVER), 1867, Oil on canvas, 26.5 x
47.75 inches, Collection: Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Gift of Jack
and Suzanne Shilling and Family, 2008.136)
The exhibition features landscape and still life paintings
by artists including George Hetzel, William Coventry Wall, Joseph R. Woodwell,
Eugene Poole, and Charles Linford among others. The exhibition concentrates
on works that have come to market in the last decade or have been in family
hands for generations. It includes 70 paintings on loan from private and
public collections; all of which have never been on public view previously.
This includes a recent Carnegie Museum of Art acquisition by William Coventry
Wall, which the Carnegie has graciously permitted to be exhibited at The
Westmoreland for the first time.
Curated by Westmoreland Director/CEO Judith H. O'Toole,
SCENIC VIEWS expands on her interest in the Scalp Level School and
their still life paintings exhibited at the Museum in 2001. It also draws
on her more recent research on the Hudson River School using archives and
paintings from an important private collection with which she has been associated
for over 25 years. For this exhibition, O'Toole has used Chew's initial
findings to delve even deeper into the reach, motivation and activities
of the Scalp Level School. This association of painters was named for a
rural area near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where the artists were best known
for congregating to paint. The leader of the Scalp Level group was Pittsburgh
painter, George Hetzel (1826-1906), who first experienced the beauty of
the area during a fishing trip in 1866. For over three decades after, Hetzel
and others continued to visit the region drawing inspiration from its rural
sanctuary from the industrial city. Like other American 19th century landscape
painters, of which there were regional groups throughout the country, Hetzel
and his "gang," as they were sometimes known, wanted to preserve
their country's virgin wilderness which they feared would soon be ruined
by man.
O'Toole states, "It has been my pleasure to work on
this exhibition with many collectors, curators, and art historians. Each
has made generous contributions to the exhibition in lending their paintings,
sharing information and giving insight into the artists. I look forward
to working on the publication of a major volume dedicated to the artists
of the Scalp Level School in the next year or two."
This fiftieth anniversary exhibition is supported by Allegheny
Energy, Eden Hall Foundation, and Richard M. Scaife.
SCENIC VIEWS artist list:
- John Beatty (1850-1924)
- Julius Augustus Beck (1831-1915)
- Fred Bussman (1842-1897)
- Johanna Knowles Woodwell Hailman (1871-1958)
- Louis Heitmuller (1863-?)
- George Hetzel (1826-1899)
- Lila B. Hetzel (1873-1967)
- Albert Francis King (1854-1945)
- Jasper Lawman (1825-1906)
- Martin B. Leisser (1846-1940)
- Charles Linford (1846 -1897)
- Hugh Newell (1830-1915)
- Eugene A. Poole (1841-1912)
- Horatio Stevens (dates unknown)
- James Brade Sword (1839-1915)
- Olive Turney (1847-1939)
- A. Bryan Wall (1861-1935)
- Alfred S. Wall (1825-1896)
- Bessie Wall (1872-1937)
- William Coventry Wall (1810-1886)
- David Walkley (1849-1936)
- Agnes Way (1842-1943)
- Joseph R. Woodwell (1843-1911)
Related programs
The following programs were developed in conjunction with
SCENIC VIEWS:
-
- Wednesday, November 5 at 12 Noon
- Brown Bag Lecture
- ASI: Art Scene Investigators
- How many old family photos do we look and wonder; when
and where was this taken? A recent gift to the Museum by William Coventry
Wall entitled View Along the Allegheny near Aspinwall, Pa., 1867 raised
the same questions. We set the sleuthing skills of archivist, Frank Kurtik
and art historian, Gary Grimes to the task of identifying the modern day
location of this former pastoral landscape along the Allegheny River. Discover
the clues they used to solve our own art mystery. With a M.A. in history
from Duquesne University, Frank Kurtik has served as a Research Fellow
and Archivist for the Heinz Family Foundation and is currently doing historical
research and writing. Gary Grimes began his career as an itinerant art
dealer and is well know in regional art circles for his extensive knowledge
of southwestern Pennsylvania art history. His lifetime of research, a.k.a.
"The Grimes Files," serves as a wellspring of information for
curators and collectors.
-
- Thursday, December 11 at 7 PM
- Thursday Evenings at The Westmoreland
- Pennsylvania's Native Landscape
- Director/CEO Judith O'Toole, curator for this exhibition,
will give a gallery tour of SCENIC VIEWS, which takes a new look a the
nineteenth century group of artists who left the smoky streets of Pittsburgh
to paint landscapes in the remote area near Johnstown and beyond. Building
on founding director Dr. Paul A. Chew's research, the exhibition includes
landscape and still life paintings that have come to light in recent years.
O'Toole will discuss the artists, their association with Scalp Level, their
national context, and their place in today's art market.
-
- Wednesday, December 17 at 12 Noon
- Brown Bag Lecture
- What is the Nature of Nature? Nineteenth Century Literature
and the Landscape
- Artists weren't the only ones inspired by the natural
world around them. As they put brush to canvas to share and interpret the
native landscape, writers of the same era were putting pen to paper to
examine their own human relationship with nature. Explore the writings
and hear the words of nineteenth century authors and poets as they too
interpret the indigenous world around them. Sara Lindey, PhD, is a new
Assistant Professor at St. Vincent College, teaching Nineteenth Century
Literature. She was awarded the Drake Dissertation Fellowship at the University
of Minnesota and has authored numerous papers on writing and literature.
Checklist for the exhibition
-
- 1. John Beatty (1850-1924)
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- Return to the Farm, n.d.
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- Oil on canvas, 20.25 x 30.375"
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- Collection:Mr. James Munro
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-
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- 2. Julius Augustus Beck (1831-1915)
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- Paint Creek Falls, PA, n.d.
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- Watercolor on paper, 21 x 14.125
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- Collection:Mr. James Munro
-
-
-
- 3. Fred Bussman (1842-1897)
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- Woodland Interior, n.d.
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- Oil on board, 7.75 x 9.875
-
- Collection:Mr. James Munro
-
-
-
- 4. Johanna Knowles Woodwell Hailman (1871-1958)
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- Stormy Beach, n.d.
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- Oil on canvas, 4.5 x 6
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- Private Collection
-
-
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- 5. Louis J. Heitmuller (1863-?)
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- Deer and Woodsman, 1898
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- Oil on canvas, 17 x 25
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- Collection:Mr. James Munro
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-
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- 6. George Hetzel (1826-1899)
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- Autumn Landscape with Wooden Fence, 1873
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- Oil on canvas, 22 x 36
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- Collection: Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hillman
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-
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- 7. George Hetzel (1826-1899)
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- Evening, Pennsylvania (Misty Landscape), 1896
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- Oil on canvas, 14 x 23
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- Collection: Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Booth, Jr.
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-
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- 8. George Hetzel (1826-1899)
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- Forest Interior, 1885
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- Oil on canvas, 14 x 23
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- Collection: William and Cynthia Swartz
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-
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- 9. George Hetzel (1826-1899)
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- Indian Encampment, 1889
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- Oil on canvas, 29.5 x 49.5
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- Collection: Brett and Judy Cramer
-
-
-
- 10. George Hetzel (1826-1899)
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- Lake Ducks, 1864
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- Oil on canvas, 30.25 x 38.5
-
- Collection: Susan and James Parker
-
-
-
- 11. George Hetzel (1826-1899)
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- Boy Fishing, n.d.
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- Oil on canvas board, 9.875 x 14
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- Collection:Mr. James Munro
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-
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- 12 .George Hetzel (1826-1899)
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- Ohio Pyle, 1863
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- Oil on canvas, 23 x 40
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- Collection: Ambassador and Mrs. John Doyle Ong
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-
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- 13. George Hetzel (1826-1899)
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- Still Life with Fruit, September 1865
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- Oil on canvas, 12.125 x 15.5
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- Collection:Mr. James Munro
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-
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- 14. George Hetzel (1826-1899)
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- Still Life: Melon, Grapes & Peaches, 1877
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- Oil on canvas, 9.25 x 13.5
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- Private Collection
-
-
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- 15. George Hetzel (1826-1899)
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- Sunset, n.d.
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- Oil on board, 9.25 x 12.25
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- Private Collection
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-
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- 16 .Lila B. Hetzel( 1873-1967)
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- East Bank Coze's Creek, Somerset Co. [Spring], n.d.
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- Oil on board, 12 x 9
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- Private Collection
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-
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- 17. Lila B. Hetzel (1873-1967)
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- Somerset Cottage [Autumn], n.d.
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- Oil on board, 12 x 9
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- Private Collection
-
-
-
- 18. Albert F. King (1854-1945)
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- Landscape, n.d.
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- Oil on canvas, 21.5 x 35.5
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- Collection: Jerry and Joan Hawk
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-
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- 19. Albert F. King (1854-1945)
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- Lane through the Birch Trees, n.d.
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- Oil on canvas, 22.25 x 30.25
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- Collection:Mr. James Munro
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-
-
- 20. Albert F. King (1854-1945)
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- Skull with Champagne and Brandy, n.d.
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- Oil on canvas, 22.25 x 18.25
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- Private Collection
-
-
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- 21. Albert F. King (1854-1945)
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- Still Life (Crock with Apples),
1897
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- Oil on canvas, 17.5 x 23.5
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- Collection: Jerry and Joan Hawk
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-
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- 22. Albert F. King (1854-1945)
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- Stone Pitcher, Apples, Cake and Lemonade, n.d
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- Oil on canvas, 22.25 x 18.25
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- Collection: Susan and James Parker
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-
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- 23. Albert F. King (1854-1945)
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- Still Life: Watermelon with Fruit, n.d.
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- Oil on canvas, 18 x 22.25
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- Collection: Mark and Carolyn Snyder
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-
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- 24. Albert F. King (1854-1945)
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- Watermelon with Apples, n.d.
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- Oil on canvas, 22.25 x 30.25
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- Collection: Susan and James Parker
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- 25. Jasper Lawman (1825-1906)
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- Paint Creek, 1885
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- Oil on canvas, 30.125 x 20.125
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- Collection:Mr. James Munro
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- 26. Jasper Lawman (1825-1906)
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