Thursday, January 14, 2021 – OUR FRIENDS AT THE SMITHSONIAN BRING US THE BEAUTY OF GARDENS

January 14, 2021

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2021

The

262nd Edition

From Our Archives

WONDERFUL GARDENS

A DAY OF FLORAL ABUNDANCE FROM OUR FRIENDS AT THE

SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM

Carroll Beckwith, Bassin de Neptune, Versailles, 1913, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Smithsonian Institution, 1974.69.18
James Carroll Beckwith painted this scene of the Neptune Fountain during one of several trips he made to Versailles. There was a movement at the time to restore the grandeur of the French palace, which may have inspired Beckwith to paint scenes of the gardens there. (Franchi and Weber, Intimate Revelations: The Art of Carroll Beckwith (1852−1917), 1999) In this painting, Beckwith captured the splendor of Versailles at the height of midsummer in the watery reflection of the trees and green knolls, and the yellow light that dances on the surface of the classical statues.

“[I] am now thinking of Versailles and wondering if I cannot paint something there in the park that would be interesting.” Carroll Beckwith, 1911, quoted in Franchi and Weber, Intimate Revelations: The Art of Carroll Beckwith (1852−1917), 1999

H. Lyman Saÿen, In the Luxembourg Gardens, 1910-1912, oil on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of H. Lyman Sayen to his Nation, 1968.19.9

John Hultberg, Sculptor’s Garden, 1968, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson, Martha Jackson Memorial Collection, 1980.137.46

John Hultberg’s paintings of imaginary environments often show strange groups of art objects and old artifacts. In Sculptor’s Garden, he included paintings, easels, and other tools to suggest artists working out-of-doors. But there are no people in the image and the works on the easels appear unfinished, as if whoever was working here had to leave suddenly; the threatening clouds and desolate landscape in the distance emphasize this sense of abandonment. Hultberg wanted to infuse his landscapes with uncertainty and ambiguity, and once wrote that “I rejoice that I find in painting a way to create my own earth.” (Jacks, John Hultberg: Painter of the In-Between, 1985)

Carroll Beckwith, In the Gardens of the Villa Palmieri, 1910, oil on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Smithsonian Institution, 1974.69.14
Carroll Beckwith traveled to Rome in 1910 and also visited Florence, where he painted this scene. The Villa Palmieri is a garden outside of Florence that was built in the 1870s for an English earl. In the foreground of this painting is a large stone well with an iron frame and a copper bucket hanging from a pulley; in the background are two gateposts topped with classical urns. Painting and sculpture from the past inspired Beckwith, who disliked the modern trends in art. (Franchi and Weber, Intimate Revelations: The Art of Carroll Beckwith (1852−1917), 1999)

Jozef Pielage, Garden, 1969, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Jozef Pielage and Betty Huse Pielage, 1978.150

James McNeill Whistler, Valparaiso Harbor, 1866, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.159

H. Lyman Saÿen, Garden, ca. 1915, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of H. Lyman Sayen to his nation, 1967.6.10

Childe Hassam, In the Garden (Celia Thaxter in Her Garden), 1892, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.52

Alice Pike Barney, Little Gardener, 1927, pastel on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Laura Dreyfus Barney and Natalie Clifford Barney in memory of their mother, Alice Pike Barney, 1966.111.9

Morton Kaish, The Garden, Glenveagh, 1978, oil and acrylic? on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Eloise Spaeth, 1983.98

Sarah P. Wells, Woman in a Garden, 19th century, brush and colored ink and pen and colored ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.219

Margaret Jordan Patterson, Garden Flowers, ca. 1920, color woodcut on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Luke Gwilliam, 1979.67.1

Edna Boies Hopkins, Garden Flowers, ca. 1915, color woodcut on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1980.77

THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

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WEDNESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

As mentioned in yesterday’s story on Roosevelt,
this is the only house of worship in Roosevelt, NJ
Congregation Anshei

Letter to the Editor

Hi Judy– Thanks for the wonderful virtual tour last night with Beth Goffe. Stephen & I thoroughly enjoyed her dishy stories & great sense of humor! I sent her an email this morning thanking her….. All the best– Thom

Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
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Thursday, January 14, 2021 – OUR FRIENDS AT THE SMITHSONIAN BRING US THE BEAUTY OF GARDENS