Tag: American art

White House Art: Fitz Henry Lane and William Ranney paintings in President Biden’s Selfie in the Blue Room

Posted on by Catherine

July 31, 2023

The Blue Room (reception site)

President Joe Biden takes a selfie with mental health youth action forum participants. Official White House photograph by Adam Schultz. “We’ve invested $1 billion to help schools hire and train 14,000 new mental health counselors in schools across the country. We’re also taking steps to address the harm social media is doing to young people and hold these platforms accountable.” July 31, 2023

Fitz Henry Lane (1804-1865). Boston Harbor. 1854. Oil on canvas. Gift of the Wassermans, 1963. (Provenance: via Kennedy Galleries)

William Ranney (1813–1857). Boys Crabbing. 1855. Oil on canvas. Provenance: via Hirschl & Adler (added to the White House Collection in 1972)

Read more about the The Blue Room here by the White House Historical Assoc. and this short video tour:

photo: Fitz Henry Lane’s Boston Harbor at the MFA. David Cox. 2016

*I wrote about art at the White House in 2014 which was published here on GMG in 2015:

“What’s the best art inside the White House? No matter what is your artistic preference, Gloucester and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts could top the charts as the City and state with the best and most art ties featured at the White House. 

…How does the White House collection work? It is unusual for the White House to accept art by living artists. There are more than 450 works of art in the permanent collection. New art enters the collection after it’s vetted and is restricted to works created at least 25 years prior to the date of acquisition. For the public rooms, the Office of the Curator works with the White House advisory committee–the First Lady serves as the Honorary Chair–and the White House Historical Association. The private rooms are the domain of the First Family. Works of art from collectors, museums, and galleries can be requested for temporary loans and are returned at the end of the President’s final term. The Obamas have selected contemporary art, including abstract art, from the permanent collection, and borrowed work for their private quarters. Besides the Hopper paintings and John Alston’s Martin Luther King sculpture, they’ve selected art by *Anni Albers, *Josef Albers, Edgar Degas, Jasper Johns, Louise Nevelson, *Robert Rauschenberg, Edward Ruscha, and *Alma Thomas.” * indicates works that have been donated to the permanent collection.

Catherine Ryan, 2014

Gloucester artists at auction- Sotheby’s American art sale closing March 3 features Mulhaupt, Kroll, Schoonover, Mellen and more

Posted on by Catherine

The Sotheby’s sale Two Centuries American Art closing March 3, 2021 highlights work by artists inspired by Gloucester and/or with Gloucester ties including these few: illustrations for Harper’s and Redbook by Frank E. Schoonover; work by Leon Kroll including a Good Harbor Beach scene; and views of Gloucester harbor by Frederick John Mulhaupt and Mary Blood Mellen:

Lot #16: Leon Kroll Figures on a Beach, o/c, circa 1919 (about 9″ x 11″ unframed), pre sale est. $3,000-$5,000

Lot #87 Frank Earle Schoonover Approaching Camp oil on canvas 1924 31″ x 25″ unframed
auction presale est. $15,000-$25,000 

Lot #58: Frank Earle Schoonover 1877 – 1972 “Take Her!” 1914 oil on canvas 25 x 34 unframed – (illus. for WD Steele story in Harper’s published 1915) presale estimate $4,000-$6,000

Mary Blood Mellen, Moonlight Seascape, Gloucester Harbor, oil on canvas, 12 ¼” x 17 ¼” unframed, presale estimate $10,000-$15,000

Lot #33: Frederick John Mulhaupt, Harbor Scene, oil on canvas, approx. 25 x 30 unframed presale estimate $30,000-$50,000

More Mulhaupt Gloucester Harbor

Gloucester Harbor, a central panel from one of Mulhaupt’s monumental mural masterworks, has been on display at Gloucester’s O’Maley school for decades. The center panel was commissioned under the auspices of the WPA-era programs and ultimately moved from its original site at Central Grammar to City Hall in 1972, and then again to O’Maley. Other sections of this mural were disconnected and dispersed within City Hall in 1972, and not all on display, which has confounded understanding of the sections individually and as a whole. All will be reunited one day–temporarily or permanently– back to the artist’s original, immersive art experience intent. Here are several photos of the mural to compare with the artist’s treatment of the harbor scene at auction.

Photo of Gloucester Daily Times article – Catherine Ryan research

photos L-R Catherine Ryan: Ron Gilson photographing Mulhaupt section at O’Maley 2018- note monumental scale of art; Mulhaupt unmoored panel and natural lighting 2017; and Mulhaupt deliberately stylized panels at City Hall, disconnected from their scope

  • courtesy photo Williamstown Art conservation Center 2019
  • Sections of Mulhaupt mural- courtesy photos- Williamstown Art Conservation Center 2019

Head to Cape Ann Museum

Fine examples by all the artists coming up at auction can be found at Cape Ann Museum within the permanent collection and/or special temporary exhibits.

photos c ryan: installation views at Cape Ann Museum (double click or pinch and zoom depending upon your device; right click to see credit info)

Trash talk on twitter: Museum of Fine Arts Boston Patriots vs Atlanta’s High Museum #MuseumBowl plus Smocks and Jocks Fine Art Super Bowl auction

Posted on by Catherine

MFA highlight Thomas Sully (American (born in England), 1783–1872) The Passage of the Delaware, 1819

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MFA  John Singleton Copley (American, 1738–1815) Mrs James Warren (aka Mercy Otis-Patriot, writer), ca.1763

High Museum collection: Richard Misrach (American, born 1949) Untitled #892-03 photograph, 2003

Check out the museums’ twitter accounts @mfaboston vs @HighMuseumofArt. For more fine art and football see

Super Bowl weekend super fundraiser: Smocks & Jocks

The National Football League Player’s Association (NFLPA) held the 12th annual ‘Smocks and Jocks’ Fine Art Auction and Jazz Brunch featuring art created by active and former NFL players (and others). The benefit raises money for the Gene Upshaw Player Assistance Fund.

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@NFLPA  functional pottery by Chris Cooley @thecooleyzone

“Our players are so many different things…The original thought was to create an opportunity for former players to come to the Super Bowl in a more relaxed atmosphere and to show a different side of the professional athlete by them being able to display their art.”

video below caption: Super Bowl XLVII  (2013) Washington Redskins Andre Collins interview- time stamp at 2:20 pans through 2013 auction items

 

 

Ceramic art patterned after Minnesota Lakes by hall of fame Carl Eller–former defensive end Minnesota Viking star– was commissioned for the new Vikings US Bank Stadium.

“Carl Eller provides artwork for new Vikings Stadium” youtube clip below

And for Craig Kimberly – Baron Batch (Bansky of the NFL) and fellow former Steeler teammate John Malecki founded Studio A.M.  Gallery in Pittsburgh

Flashback: visiting Clark Museum to see Bierstadt’s Puget Sound on loan from the Seattle Art Museum thanks to the Patriots Super Bowl XLIX win. (If Seattle Seahawks won, Homer’s West Point Prout’s Neck in the Clark would have gone west.)

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