Wadsworth by ACC Art Books

WADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM OF ART A PORTRAIT Thomas J. Loughman

From our twenty-first-century perspective the history of

The Founding Vision: A Place for Art

the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art—the oldest

The Wadsworth Atheneum is Connecticut’s flagship

continually operating art museum in the Americas—has

visual arts organization and an art museum of global

been shaped around four principles and ideas. First, the

consequence. It is the largest public art museum in

son of a major Revolutionary War figure founded the

Connecticut and one of the few museums in New England

Atheneum in order to provide public access to the visual

with such an expansive array of global cultural property.

arts. Second, museum leaders have continually embraced

From its site in downtown Hartford, the museum serves

this founding vision and mission since 1842 through

multiple audiences, ranging from communities around

evolving and innovative programs. Third, the Atheneum’s

the region to tourists and scholars from all over the world.

campus was transformed in the past century, shaped by

Over the course of several decades, the Atheneum has

extraordinary patronage in the spirit of the founding

expanded its reach to broad audiences through active

mission. Lastly, the museum collections have been

education and curatorial programs—a recent analysis

nourished by a sequence of major bequests and more than

shows nearly five hundred educational points of contact

a century of professional collecting by directors and

within Connecticut alone. At the same time, the

curators, who have focused on gathering outstanding

Wadsworth Atheneum consistently presents important

objects that tell the story of the history of art from around

exhibitions and participates in many more across North

the globe. The founding vision, the development of

America and Europe as a key lender and collaborator in

identity and character by successive generations of

the global conversation about art.

leadership, and the growth of the museum’s collection and

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Such a far-reaching and varied role for the

architecturally significant buildings define the Wadsworth

Wadsworth Atheneum was perhaps not anticipated by

Atheneum. Considering each provides a useful portrait of

its founders, but the aim of creating a place for art on

the institution as well as a context for understanding its

Main Street in Hartford, and doing so with an eye for

past and appreciating its future trajectory.

permanence and breadth, was a mandate. Each

Thomas Sully (American, born England, 1783–1872). Daniel Wadsworth, 1807 (detail). Oil on canvas, 28 1/8 × 21 7/8 in. (71.4 × 55.6 cm). Gift of William P. Wadsworth, 1976.79.

WADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM OF ART A PORTRAIT Thomas J. Loughman

From our twenty-first-century perspective the history of

The Founding Vision: A Place for Art

the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art—the oldest

The Wadsworth Atheneum is Connecticut’s flagship

continually operating art museum in the Americas—has

visual arts organization and an art museum of global

been shaped around four principles and ideas. First, the

consequence. It is the largest public art museum in

son of a major Revolutionary War figure founded the

Connecticut and one of the few museums in New England

Atheneum in order to provide public access to the visual

with such an expansive array of global cultural property.

arts. Second, museum leaders have continually embraced

From its site in downtown Hartford, the museum serves

this founding vision and mission since 1842 through

multiple audiences, ranging from communities around

evolving and innovative programs. Third, the Atheneum’s

the region to tourists and scholars from all over the world.

campus was transformed in the past century, shaped by

Over the course of several decades, the Atheneum has

extraordinary patronage in the spirit of the founding

expanded its reach to broad audiences through active

mission. Lastly, the museum collections have been

education and curatorial programs—a recent analysis

nourished by a sequence of major bequests and more than

shows nearly five hundred educational points of contact

a century of professional collecting by directors and

within Connecticut alone. At the same time, the

curators, who have focused on gathering outstanding

Wadsworth Atheneum consistently presents important

objects that tell the story of the history of art from around

exhibitions and participates in many more across North

the globe. The founding vision, the development of

America and Europe as a key lender and collaborator in

identity and character by successive generations of

the global conversation about art.

leadership, and the growth of the museum’s collection and

xii

Such a far-reaching and varied role for the

architecturally significant buildings define the Wadsworth

Wadsworth Atheneum was perhaps not anticipated by

Atheneum. Considering each provides a useful portrait of

its founders, but the aim of creating a place for art on

the institution as well as a context for understanding its

Main Street in Hartford, and doing so with an eye for

past and appreciating its future trajectory.

permanence and breadth, was a mandate. Each

Thomas Sully (American, born England, 1783–1872). Daniel Wadsworth, 1807 (detail). Oil on canvas, 28 1/8 × 21 7/8 in. (71.4 × 55.6 cm). Gift of William P. Wadsworth, 1976.79.

Giovanni Paolo Panini Italian, Roman, 1691–1765 The Picture Gallery of Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga, 1749 Oil on canvas 78 × 1051⁄2 in. (198.1 × 268 cm) The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1948.478 While depictions of private art gallery interiors were already popular in the Southern Netherlands during the seventeenth century, it was Giovanni Paolo Panini who mastered the subject on a grandiose scale. This work is the first in a long series of

interior scenes that made Panini one of the most admired artists in eighteenth-century Rome. With its sense of drama, a grand basilica-like setting, dazzling visual detail, and an intriguing mix of figures enlivening the gallery, this painting demonstrates all of the qualities for which Panini became famous. In the foreground, Panini and Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga, dressed in a scarlet cassock and cape, inspects an enlarged copy of Raphael’s painting Madonna della Sedia. While the gallery setting is imaginary, the cardinal’s art collection was real. Gonzaga was one of the leading art collectors in Rome; he owned nearly eight hundred pictures, of which about two hundred are carefully represented here. OT

Centerpiece, 1758–59 German, Augsburg

Bernhard Heinrich Weyhe (1702–1782) Silver 26 × 28 × 211⁄2 in. (66 × 71.1 × 54.6 cm) Museum Purchase, 1950.437 Often called a surtout or épergne, this elaborate Rococo pergola served as the centerpiece on a very grand table. Musicians representing the four continents play merrily inside the fantastic architectural setting. Accompanying the centerpiece

are four serving containers—two condiment dishes, a shaker, and a cruet for oil and vinegar. Two dishes meant to hold lemons are hidden among the decorations at the top. A centerpiece like this would have impressed and amused guests for its dramatic, yet functional design. Augsburg was a major center for goldsmithing in the seventeenth century. By 1740, Bernhard Heinrich Weyhe was one of 275 goldsmiths working in this Saxon town where enormous commissions were generated for both liturgical and secular use, including large dinner services in gold or silver. LHR

Centerpiece, 1758–59 German, Augsburg

Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo Italian, Venice, 1727–1804 The Building of the Trojan Horse, c. 1773–74 Oil on canvas 75 × 140 in. (190.5 × 355.6 cm) The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1950.658 Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo was trained by his father, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, with whom he collaborated on large fresco commissions across Europe. This painting—the only surviving one of a set of three massive works depicting the fall of

Troy—was most likely created for a great palace. It shows Tiepolo’s talent for using a light-filled, colorful, decorative style to tell a story on a grand scale. The story represented here is a scene from Greek history told first by Homer in the Odyssey and later by Virgil in the Aeneid. In their quest to conquer the walled city of Troy, the Greeks resolved to end their siege by means of trickery. They built a giant wooden horse in which their soldiers were hidden and offered it to Troy as a supposed gesture of conciliation. The gift horse was dragged into Troy and, during the night, the soldiers emerged and pillaged the city. This painting shows the construction of the horse. OT

Tankard, 1774 American, Boston, Massachusetts Paul Revere (1735–1818) Silver 91⁄4 × 71⁄4 × 51⁄4 in. (23.5 × 18.4 × 13.3 cm) Gift of Harold C. Lovell Jr. and Lulu K. Lovell, in memory of Harold C. Lovell Sr., 2000.7.1 This sturdy tankard, a popular drinking and ceremonial vessel in colonial America, was crafted by the legendary American silversmith and Revolutionary War patriot Paul Revere. Best known for his famed midnight ride to alert the colonial militias of the impending British invasion, Revere learned the silversmithing trade from his Huguenot immigrant father. Revere’s superior skill and knowledge of stylistic trends are

evident in the decorative elements and style of this tankard, from the Rococo pinecone finial and engraved armorial to its Neoclassical symmetry, columnar proportions, and domed lid. The tankard, which bears the engraved coats of arms of the Skillings family on the body and the initials “NES” on the handle, was probably made for Captain Nehemiah Skillings, a wealthy merchant who owned docks in Boston Harbor opposite those of famed signer of the Declaration of Independence John Hancock. Skillings gave the tankard to Major Ezra Beaman, a member of the Sons of Liberty, who fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill and served as aide to General George Washington during the siege of Boston. The tankard descended in the family to Harold C. Lovell Jr., the fifth great-grandson of Major Beaman, who gave it to the Wadsworth Atheneum in 2000. MK

Selection of American Silver Tankard, 1755–65. New York, New York. Myer Myers (1723– 1795). 7 7⁄8 × 81⁄4 in., 51⁄4 in. (20 × 20.95 cm, 13.34 cm) diameter Salver, 1805–12. Baltimore, Maryland. Thomas Warner (1780–1828) and Andrew Warner (1786–1870), working 1805–1810. 14 in. (35.6 cm) diameter

Paper template-pieced quilt, “Hourglass,” 1785 American, New England Various worsteds, silk, and printed cottons, with a wool backing and wool batting 81 × 86 in. (205.7 × 218.4 cm) Gift of William L. Warren in Memory of Florence Paull Berger, 1967.75 Celebrated as America’s earliest pieced quilt on which a date appears, this bedcover is likely an example of the tradition of providing a daughter with the items she needed to “go to housekeeping” upon marriage. The woman’s maiden name or initials were stitched onto linens, engraved into silver, or carved into blanket chests—or, in this case, appliquéd onto a bed

quilt—firmly marking those items as her own at a time when married women had no legal right to own property. This quilt was made in 1785 by the mother of Anna Tuels, whose surname appears in early Massachusetts records, but whose exact identity has eluded historians. The stitching technique used for the quilt’s inscription, with the pieces laid on top of the foundation fabric rather than pieced into it, identifies it as American. This quilt was presented to the Wadsworth Atheneum by William Warren, a prominent New England historian and museum professional, in memory of Florence Paull Berger. Berger was the museum’s first trained curator of collections (appointed in 1918) and also the first curator of costume and textiles, serving in that capacity from 1951 to 1965. LZB

Sugar tongs, 1785–97. New Haven, Connecticut. Phineas Bradley (1745–1797). 11⁄4 × 61⁄8 × 2 in. (3.2 × 15.6 × 5.1 cm) Teapot, c. 1755. Boston, Massachusetts. John Coburn (1724– 1803). 61⁄2 × 101⁄8 in., 51⁄2 in. (16.5 × 25.7 cm, 14 cm) diameter Presentation urn, 1799. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Joseph Lownes (1754–1820). 18 × 7 1⁄2 in. (45.7 × 19.1 cm) Patch box, 1721/2. Boston, Massachusetts. John Edwards (c. 1671–1746). 5⁄16 × 17⁄16 × 1 in. (.8 × 3.7 × 2.5 cm) Porringer, 1750–80. Southampton, Long Island, New York; Simsbury, Connecticut; or Saybrook, Connecticut. Elias Pelletreau (1726–1810). 2 × 63⁄4 × 41⁄2 in. (5.1 × 17.1 × 11.4 cm) The Philip H. Hammerslough Collection, 1983.154, 1983.95, 1983.569, 1978.117, 1983.450, 1983.363, 1983.167

A connoisseur of American silver with a focused interest on silver made in Connecticut, Philip H. Hammerslough compiled one of the largest and finest private collections of American silver in the country. Hammerslough resided in Hartford most of his life, and became a Trustee and Honorary Curator of American Silver at the Wadsworth Atheneum. A portion of his collection, more than 650 objects, was bequeathed to the museum. Ranging from common forms like tankards, tea sets, and porringers, to unusual ones like swords, spurs, and chatelaines, the objects date from the early 1700s to the mid-nineteenth century. The collection is not only broad in range and depth but also exhibits the quality of the American silversmith’s art. Hammerslough aspired to acquire an example by every known colonial American silversmith, and more than 250 makers are represented in this nearly encyclopedic collection. Hammerslough considered the highlight of the collection to be the Myer Myers tankard (pictured) made for Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, who administered the oath of office to President George Washington. MK

Willem de Kooning American, born The Netherlands, 1904–1997 Montauk 1, 1969 Oil on canvas 88 × 77 in. (223.5 × 195.6 cm) The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1973.46 Willem de Kooning’s broad brushstrokes of thickly applied paint, speckled with drips, evoke the physical activity of the artist as he painted the canvas. The artist was a well-known member of the New York School, a group of abstract painters working in New York City after World War II. Unlike most of his colleagues, de Kooning structured his compositions around

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representational imagery, often the female figure. The vigorous smear of pink in the center of this painting suggests such a figure, as do the displaced red lips and eye. The fleshy tones become another element in the network of swells and ridges that convey the fluid movement of the sand, sea, and hot summer sun at Montauk on the eastern tip of Long Island, New York, where many Abstract Expressionist painters, including de Kooning, had studios. This work is part of a series of paintings by the artist created between the late 1960s and early 1970s that focus on Montauk. De Kooning was featured in MATRIX 15 in 1975–76, which included this work, another painting, and two bronze sculptures, a medium he began exploring in 1969. ED

Helen Frankenthaler American, 1928–2011 Sea Picture with Black, 1959 Oil on canvas 841⁄2 × 57 in. (214.6 × 144.8 cm) Gift of Susan Morse Hilles, 1961.7 By pouring diluted oil paint onto unprimed cotton canvas, Helen Frankenthaler allowed the colors to soak into the material and stain the fabric. Her innovative soak-stain technique contrasted with the thick brushwork and densely dripped webs of paint by Willem de Kooning and Jackson

Pollock, earlier Abstract Expressionists who inspired Frankenthaler. By using fluid layers, abstract forms, and lyrical gestures, Frankenthaler captured a feeling of lightness previously associated primarily with watercolor. Frankenthaler often worked from memories of nature, only naming her paintings after completion. Although an abstraction, Sea Picture with Black evokes a seascape entirely through the artist’s choice of color and composition rather than any direct references to representational forms. She captured the impact of ocean waves crashing and spraying over rocks in Provincetown on Cape Cod, where she often spent summers. PH

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Robert Rauschenberg American, 1925–2008 Retroactive I, 1964 Oil and silkscreen ink on canvas 84 × 60 in. (213.4 × 152.4 cm) Gift of Susan Morse Hilles, 1964.30 Incongruous images of President John F. Kennedy, a parachuting astronaut, construction workers, a nude woman in motion, a glass of water, and a crate of oranges unite on this silkscreened canvas. Robert Rauschenberg sourced these images from popular magazines like LIFE and National Geographic, manipulating their color and scale before printing. He had prepared a silkscreen of the central image of Kennedy during

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the summer of 1963. After the president’s assassination in the fall, the artist was reluctant to use Kennedy, which Rauschenberg felt might exploit the deep sense of mourning in the United States. Nonetheless, the artist included the iconic photograph because it captured the spirit of Kennedy’s time. In 1964, contemporary art collector Susan Morse Hilles purchased the newly completed Retroactive I from a group show at Leo Castelli Gallery in New York. Hilles donated the work to the Wadsworth Atheneum shortly after, stating that the painting “…should be out and people should see it.” A few months later Rauschenberg gained international recognition when he won the Grand Prize at the Venice Biennale in 1964. At the time, the painting was hanging at the Wadsworth Atheneum in an exhibition of Hilles’s collection. ED

Duane Hanson American, 1925–1996 Sunbather, 1971 Polyester resin and fiberglass, polychromed in oil, mixed media, with accessories 301⁄2 × 71 × 361⁄2 in. (77.5 × 180.3 × 92.7 cm) National Endowment for the Arts Museum Purchase Program with matching funds bequeathed by Roscoe Nelson Gray in memory of Rene Gabrielle Gray and Roscoe Nelson Dalton Gray, 1977.7 © Estate of Duane Hanson/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

with its extreme realism. Although Duane Hanson’s works are popular for their uncanny lifelike qualities, the artist himself was less interested in deceiving our eyes than in engaging our minds with the quiet despair of aimless workers, bloated consumers, and neglected senior citizens. The Sunbather lies surrounded by the debris of consumer culture from the early 1970s—junk food and celebrity gossip magazines—revealing the material forces that have made her what she is. This work was included in Hanson’s MATRIX 40 exhibition in 1978. Conservation of the sculpture, completed in 1993, was made possible by funds donated by the Collectors’ Council of the Wadsworth Atheneum. ED

This life-size sculpture of an aging sunbather reclining on a webbed, aluminum lounge chair surprises museum visitors

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This life-size sculpture of an aging sunbather reclining on a webbed, aluminum lounge chair surprises museum visitors

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Ribera, Jusepe de 30 The Sense of Taste 30, 30 Rice, William 72 Tavern sign 72, 72 Richards, M. C. 133 Ritter, Jeremias 39 Nautilus snail 39, 39 Rivera, Diego 117 Young Girl with a Mask 117, 117 Robe à la française and stomacher, French 61, 61 Rollins, Sonny 138 Roosevelt, Eleanor 111 Roosevelt, Franklin D. 111 Ropes, Joseph 5 View of Hartford to the North 5, 5 Rosa, Salvator 41 Lucrezia as Poetry 41, 41 Rothko, Mark 12, 124 Ruby, Jack 141 Ruff, Thomas 142 Portrait 142, 142

Saarinen, Eero 123 Womb Chair and ottoman 123, 123 Schiro, Dorothy Auerbach and Bernard 123 Schlemmer, Oskar 112 The Race (Wettlauf) 112, 112 Schmidt, Friedrich 46 House altar 46, 46 Schnakenberg, Henry E. 11, 44 Schreckengost, Viktor 111 Punch bowl from the “Jazz Bowl” series 111, 111 Sèvres Porcelain Factory 59, 66, 84, 103 Ewer and tray 84, 84 Mounted vase and cover 59, 59 Pair of vases 66, 66 Vase 103, 103 Silberysen, Johann Bernhard 51 Skillings, Nehemiah 63 Sloan, John 106 Hairdresser’s Window 106, 106 Smith, Jane 124 Smith, Kiki 145 Daisy Chain 145, 145 Smith, Tony 12, 124, 137 Amaryllis 137, 137 Spartan warrior, Sparta 18, 18 Spenser, Edmund 73 Stamos, Theodoros 124 Steichen, Edward 110 Stein, Gertrude 110 Stettheimer, Ettie 110 Stettheimer, Florine 110 Beauty Contest: To the Memory of P. T. Barnum 110, 110 Stewart, Julius L. 99 On the Yacht “Namouna,” Venice 99, 99 Stickley, Gustav 101 Plate Rack, Model No. 903 101, 101 Sideboard, Model No. 971 101, 101 Stieglitz, Alfred 102, 108 Still, Clyfford 124 Strozzi, Bernardo 33 Saint Catherine of Alexandria 33, 33 Sully, Thomas 1, 2, 75 Daniel Wadsworth xii, xii Self-Portrait 75, 75 Sumner, Frank C. 11 Sweerts, Michael 43 Boy with a Hat 43, 43

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Tai Soo Kim 9 Tennyson, Alfred Lord 96 Thomire, Pierre-Philippe 66 Thompson, Bob 138 Garden of Music 138, 138 Thomson, Virgil 110 Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista 62 Tiepolo, Giovanni Domenico 62 The Building of the Trojan Horse 62, 62 Tiffany, Louis Comfort 99 Tintoretto, Jacopo 12 The Contest between Apollo and Marsyas 12, 12 Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de 98 Jane Avril Leaving the Moulin Rouge 98, 98 Trumbull, John 2, 74 The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775 74, 74 Trumbull Jr., Jonathan 2 Tudor, David 133 Tuels, Anna 68

Ukeles, Mierle Laderman 13 Washing/Tracks/Maintenance: Outside 13, 13 Utamaro, Kitagawa 4 Cherry Blossoms at Yoshiwara 4, 4

V van Eenhoorn, Samuel 50 Covered vase 50, 50 van Gogh, Vincent 94 Self-Portrait 94, 94 Vanderbilt, Consuelo 45 Vanderlyn, John 10 The Murder of Jane McCrea 10, 10 Vasari, Giorgio 24 Vase, Italian 25, 25 Verstraeten, Willem Jansz. 42 Dish 42, 42 Vincennes Porcelain Factory 58 Basket of flowers 58, 58 Viola, Bill 143 Ascension 143, 143 von Humboldt, Alexander 80 von Tschirnhaus, Ehrenfried Walther 52

W Wadsworth, Catherine 75 Wadsworth, Daniel 1–3, 5, 9–10, 13, 65, 74, 75, 83 Wadsworth, Faith (Trumbull) 2, 75 Wadsworth, Jeremiah 2 Wadsworth, Mehitable 75 Wagstaff, Sam 12 Walker, Kara 144 Wall Sampler 1 144, 144 Walter, Marie-Thérèse 113 Warhol, Andy 132, 181 Triple Silver Disaster 132, 132 Warner, Andrew and Thomas 69 Salver 69, 69 Warren, Joseph 74 Warren, William L. 68 Washington, George 63, 69 Welch, Archibald 12 West, Benjamin 73 Una and the Lion (Mary Hall in the Character of Una) 73, 73 Weyhe, Bernhard Heinrich 55 Centerpiece 55, 55

Whistler, James Abbott McNeill 88 Coast of Brittany (Alone with the Tide) 88, 88 White, Stanford 92 Settee 92, 92 Widmaier-Picasso, Maya 113 Wiley, Kehinde 147 Portrait of Toks Adewetan (The King of Glory) 147, 147 Wolf kiel, George 76 Platter 76, 76 Worth, Charles Frederick 100 Worth, Gaston-Lucien 100 Worth, Jean-Philippe 100 Court dress 100, 100 Wright of Derby, Joseph 64 The Old Man and Death 64, 64 Wyeth, Andrew 130 Chambered Nautilus 130, 130

XYZ Zurbarán, Francisco de 35 Saint Serapion 35, 35