James Penney- Muralist, Hamilton Professor, Work in exhibition curated by Francis Quirk

As we work through the artists that exhibited their works at Lehigh University Art Galleries under Francis Quirk's aegis, we will today highlight James Penney who taught in the Hamilton College Art Department from 1948 until his retirement in 1976.

A native of Saint Joseph, Missouri, James Penney came to New York in 1931 after graduating from the University of Kansas. At the Art Students League he studied with George Grosz, John Sloan, Thomas Hart Benton and the printmaker Charles Locke.

In our research, we checked out the oral history interview kept at the Archives of American Art and learned that Penney's first mural commission at Queens, New York's Flushing High School was through the WPA. Photos are below and textual descriptions can be found here. 

WPA sponsored Mural Panel in Flushing High School by James Penney

WPA sponsored Mural Panel in Flushing High School by James Penney

WPA sponsored Mural Panel in Flushing High School by James Penney

WPA sponsored Mural Panel in Flushing High School by James Penney

First recognized as a major American artist during his years as a muralist with the WPA Arts Project. He made the mural the Memories of Marion Country for the Palmyra Post Office, and Aspects of Rural Missouri for the Union Post Office – both in Missouri. 

Memories of Marion County by James Penney  Palmyra, Missouri Post Office

Close up of  "Memories of Marion County" by James Penney  Palmyra, Missouri Post Office

Close up of  "Memories of Marion County" by James Penney  Palmyra, Missouri Post Office

Aspects of Rural Missouri By James Penney

The realist style of the 1930s and early 1940s eventually gave way to a freer, more expressionistic handling of both oil and watercolor. Penney went on to teach at Hunter College, Bennington College, and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute and Hamilton College.

Studio West 58th Street by James Penney

Penney went on to win several national competitions, including the commission in 1963 to paint the murals in the vestibule of the Nebraska State Capitol at Lincoln. (Note that some biographies give him credit for murals in the rotunda, which does not appear to be accurate.) We reproduce two of them below. First Furrow is particularly striking in that it captures the effort to break the sod of the Nebraskan plains. One can feel the oxen straining and hear the creaking of the plow with the driver struggling to retain his balance as he guides it through the sod.  The second provides a classic American scene of people coming together to frame a house. 

First Furrow by James Penney Nebraska State Capitol

Raising the House by James Penney Nebraska State Capitol

An archive of Penney's New Yorker cover drawings, mural studies, and prints, is in the New York Historical Society (the lithograph Subway was in their exhibition Impressions of New York, 2005). There are Penney lithographs in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.

Subway Interior by James Penney

"Girders and Lights" Etching by James Penney

Like Quirk, Penney would master realism and establish himself as a beloved figure in academia. Penney differed  in that he took his art in different directions including city life, prints, abstract, recycled objects. 

"Edge of a Field' by James Penney 

In 1955 the Munson-Williams-Proctor Museum of Art had a retrospective of his work referring to him as a member of the Ashcan School. You can see/buy the catalog here on Etsy. He also has works in the Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.

We also note that Penney definitely held strong opinions as this painting executed during the depression makes a strong point. 

"Thoughts of Capitalism by a Missourian in the Depression" by James Penney

Henry Strater, The Ogunquit Art Colony, The Ogunquit Musuem of American Art

We recently posted a bit about Professor Quirk's efforts to bring art to the Lehigh University community through an annual exhibition. (We are amazed that Lehigh's Museum has not yet put on a retrospective of his work given his importance to the institution's development.) In this post we will highlight one of the painters who had a work in the 17th exhibition- Henry Strato, and how his life overlapped with Quirk's in several interesting ways. 

Interestingly, Henry Strater's profile has parallels to Waldo Pierce in that both were painters who spent time in Maine, had large families and were close to Ernest Hemingway.  

Henry Strater came of age in the Lost Generation after the first World War.  He attended Princeton, where he met F. Scott Fitzgerald;serving as the inspiration for the character Burne Halliday in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "This Side of Paradise."

"I was the model for Burne Halliday, I regret to say," Strater once said. "Why? Well, I was pretty much of a wild Indian."

He later went to Paris in the 1920s to study at the Academy Grande Chaumiere and with Edouard Vuillard. There his path crossed with Ernest Hemingway, beginning a life long relationship that would include fishing and a few portraits. 

Portrait of Ernest Hemingway by Henry H. Strater

A Strater portrait of Ernest Hemingway later was used for the cover of Carlos Baker's biography of the Nobel-winning writer.

He also illustrated the controversial "Cantos" of poet Ezra Pound.

Island Lillies by Henry H. Strater

Happy Birthday Adam by Henry H. Strater

Strater was a versatile painter  and his portraits, watercolors and other realistic works are or have been displayed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the City Art Museum of St. Louis, the Detroit Institute of Arts. Lehigh University Art Gallery and the Ogunquit (Maine) Museum of American Art, a small museum he built in the art colony where he had spent his summers since 1925. You can learn more about the Ogunquir Art Colony through the book "A Century of Color" by Louise Tagard.

Henry Strator painting in Ogunquit Maine

Born in Louisville, Ky., he died at 91 in Palm Beach, Florida in 1987.

The interesting parallels with Quirk are many. First, both had homes in coastal Maine (Ogunquit and Saco) and Arizona (Verde Valley and Prescott). Both painted and would effectively create art museums that would continue as their legacies. Both studied art in Paris and would paint a variety of subjects including maritime scenes.  We don't know the details of their relationship, but it is fair to assume that they knew each other; to what degree we do not know. 

Francis Quirk Brings Art to The Lehigh Valley Through the Annual Exhibition of American Contemporary Paintings

Over time our feeling has grown that Quirk's legacy extends beyond his work as a painter which first drew him to our attention. Then, we saw how his reach extended to his students, such as Helen Bacon Hoffman.  But perhaps equally important is his work in bringing arts to the Lehigh Valley.

In addition to bringing prominent artists and emerging trends into the campus galleries, he organized an Annual Exhibition of American Contemporary Paintings that was supported by Lehigh University alumni Ralph Wilson and his wife. (You can learn more about Ralph Wilson here.) 

Quirk reached out to six galleries for works including the following:

• East Hampton 
• Forum
• Frank Rehn
• Kraushaar
• Midtown
• Ogunquit

Over time many of these have closed.  We have tried unsuccessfully to find the Ogunquit and East Hampton Galleries.  Frank Rehn's papers are archived and include communications with Quirk that we have not yet focused on. 

At the exhibitions an opening reception was held with hostesses from the community. The exhibited paintings were for sale including one by Professor Quirk. 

The visitors to the exhibition were invited to vote for a favorite painting. This painting would be purchased and added to the permanent collection of Lehigh University. 

Presenting Artists

• Elyot Henderson
• Raymond Mintz
• James Penney
• Charles Coiner
• Robert Eric Moore
• Henry Strater
• Joe Lasker
• Johyn Heliker
• John Guerin
• Andree Ruellen
• Karl Schrag
• George Picken
• Cornelus Ruthenberg
• Kenneth Callahan
• Jason Schoener
• James Lechay
• Ruth Gikow
• William Thon
• Jerome Witkin
• Elsie Manville
• Tanos Ghikas
• Raphael Soyer
• Max Weber
• Peppino Mangravite
• Harmon Neill
• Manuel Ayaso
• David Lavine
• Patience Haley
• Ralph Dubin
• Francis J. Quirk
• Roy Moyer
• Kenneth Evett
• Balcombe Greene
• Robert La Hoten
• Wallace H. Smith
• Lenore Laine
• Chris Ritter
• Seri Berg
• John Hartell
• Carolyn Cross
• Zona

Quirk was helping to boost the careers of these artists by giving them exposure,  an exhibition line on their resumes, a potential museum holding and a potential sale. 

While we have only scratched the surface of the list, we can see a few names that were prominent in the Ogunquit Art Colony including Henry Strater and Elyot Henderson. Henry Strater would be instrumental in the founding of the Ogunquit Museum of American Art.  You can learn more about Strater through this Esquire profile found here. 

We do have high quality images of this pamphlet and are seeking to master posting them in a better format. 

Francis Quirk's Final Resting Place- Laurel Hill Cemetery in Saco Maine

Through a line in a newspaper obituary we had long believed that Francis Quirk was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Saco, Maine. However, we were unable to confirm that in our searches through gravestone sites and cemetery directories. 

We also had heard apocryphal stories surrounding his actual internment that left us a bit uncertain to what actually transpired. 

However, a relative has graciously provided this photo of Francis and Anna Quirk's tombstone at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Saco, Maine. 

The Latin(?) phrase below "Ars longa vita brevist est" did not translate well in google translate, so we would welcome feedback from our erudite readership as to the actual meaning. 

Tombstone for Artist Francis Quirk and his wife Anna in Saco Maine.