Sunday, May 22, 2016

I'm welcoming a new art piece into the house

Art tells your home's visitors something about you. It reveals your aesthetic, your preferences, and your style. I love art. I have a lot of it. This is because I grew up with a lot of it, and for that I've always been grateful.

Some of the art I have hung in my apartment is mine that I created or photographed and then hung. One photo is of a favorite vacation spot I used to frequent.

Other art I have is first edition art given to me by the artist. I also have a small watercolor from a local artist. Others were not gifts but I acquired myself.

I acquired my first art piece at approximately age 8. I spotted a bucolic, unframed but matted photo that looked unlike any other photo I'd yet seen. It turned out to be a hand-tinted photo from the early part of the 20th century by well-known colorist Fred Thompson. It was among other items lying on the floor of a white elephant church jumble sale, and I bought it right away. Hand tinting photographs was a fad at the turn of the last century. When I look at it I feel relaxed.

A few weeks ago I saw a new painting at an antique/vintage store in town. It is a large sized painting, 43" wide by 33" high. It depicted a rural scene on a Sunday of a well-dressed group, likely a family, walking up the lane to church. I was charmed by the content and I liked the quality of the frame and matting. It is called Sunday Morning in Sleepy Hollow, and it's by Jennie Brownscombe. The piece is a hand colored engraving on paper by Brownscombe, a Pennsylvania Artist  who lived from 1850-1930. The painting is done on an Engraving by James King, and it's published by Washington Irving.
Jennie Augusta Brownscombe (December 10, 1850 – August 5, 1936) was an American painter, designer, etcher, commercial artist and illustrator. Brownscombe studied art for years in the United States and in Paris. She was a founding member, student and teacher at the Art Students League of New York. She made genre paintings, including revolutionary and colonial American history, most notably The First Thanksgiving held at Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth, Massachusetts. She sold the reproduction rights to more than 100 paintings, and images of her work have appeared on prints, calendars and greeting cards. Her works are in many public collections and museums. In 1899 she was described by New York World as "one of America's best artists." (Source)
Brownscombe's works hang in the Smithsonian, among other places throughout America.

It was a good sized piece, and I'd been wanting a larger one. There are several paintings in my living room I adore. I've had a poster copy of Childe Hassam's impressionist painting, Boston Common at Sunset, for a looooong time, and I've enjoyed looking at it for just as long.  Here it is from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston:




This is the art from Brownscombe that I'd found in a vintage store. It fits very well into the corner and I love it:


I'm surrounded by pretty art, at least, it's art I love. What could be better?


1 comment:

Grace to You said...

I thought that first painting looked like Boston! One of my very favorite stories happened in Boston...

As we were preparing to move to Maine in 2007, a dear friend gave my 3 year old son some Robert McCloskey books to give us a taste of the adventures ahead. I can't imagine how I had never heard of him before, but I was enchanted.

Right after we moved, my husband had a week long conference in Boston, and our son and I spent the whole week walking around the city (and riding the subway - a first for both of us!) - it was a wonderful time in a wonderful city.

We were at the Common playground on a Saturday morning, when the other parents started talking amongst themselves and taking their children in the direction of the Public Garden. I asked someone what was going on, and they said there was a special celebration going on at the Garden. Jed and I wandered over that way, and were so excited to learn that the city was celebrating the 20th anniversary of some statues in the garden - the Make Way for Ducklings statues! We didn't know there were such things. :) The best part, though, was the guest of honor at the celebration - Robert McCloskey's daughter, Sal, in the flesh. We didn't know there was such a person! :D We got a picture taken with her and it now resides inside the cover of our treasured copy of Make Way for Ducklings. I only wish I had asked her if she really got mixed up with a bear cub while picking blueberries! :)