Albert Christ-Janer Donor of Francis Quirk Painting to Georgia Museum of Art

In researching Quirk's painting "The Soloist"  we learned that it was donated to the Georgia Museum of Art by Albert Christ-Janer.  It appears that he was a well-known artist himself.  This is another Harvard connection for Quirk as he exhibited a painting of another Harvard Man in Providence RI.

Here is a bit about Christ-Janer

 

Albert William Christ-Janer,  American, (1910 - 1973)

Painter, graphic artist, writer, and teacher Albert William Christ-Janer was born in Appleton, Minnesota. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, Yale University, and Harvard University. Christ-Janer wrote about American artists Boardman Robinson and John Caleb Bingham, and taught at a variety of institutions, including Stephens College, Cranbrook Academy, Pratt Institute Art School, and the University of Georgia. He was also an artist-in-residence at Tamarind Lithography Workshop in 1972.

An avid printmaker, Christ-Janer developed personal working methods that often involved a good deal of risk and uncertainty. Through his experimentations he created a range of tones and textures that deepen and enliven his abstract forms. Nature was always his starting point, and he once stated, "The earth, sky, and the sea are my sources of information; art is my inspiration."

 

Work by Albert Christ-Janner Landforms GA 11, n.d  Lithograph on Paper  Courtesy of the Art Institue of Chicago.

He taught at the University of Georgia during the last three years of his life. After his death the created a major award in his honor. 

Janner also was affiliated with Penn State and designed a noteworthy house to live in. Below are some excerpts from a web-site discussing the house.

The Christ-Janer House

525 Glenn Road
1956
Albert W. and Virginia Christ-Janer

Albert Christ-Janer was Dean of Arts and Architecture at Penn State. A brother was an architect of some note (who said that the secret to success as an architect was to marry a wealthy woman). Architecture historian Richard Porter recalls that at the time of completion, the house was the most discussed in town and guests to parties there thought that if they ever had a house like this, they would have truly "arrived." Also the furnishings included that icon of the period, an Eames lounge chair, as well as other noted mid-century modern pieces and appropriate large art works.

The front entry to the house is directly behind the chimney. The entry is located midway between the two levels of the main house wing. Notice the dramatic use of natural lighting and the compression-expansion technique so prized by Wright.

These are pictures of the window wall of the great room Looking out per the photo, one has the feeling of being in a secluded woods. This is quite amazing considering that the two adjacent houses are quite close by.

These photos are details of the window wall of the great room. While in-room closet space is generous, storage for out-of-season items is scarce. If you look carefully at the base of the window wall, you can see that the inside flooring stops short and flagstone is to both sides of the glass to enhance the feeling of being outdoors. The main entry way can be seen in the upper center of the right photo.

The dining area of the great room is tucked dramatically under a balcony room. Live trailing ivy grows from planters in the dividing wall above. The side of the house has no desirable view (in fact, the reverse is true), so the full length windows are semi-opaque to hide the outside while letting natural light flow in.

Sadly, Christ-Janer died in an auto crash near Como, Italy during a 4 month stay there. He was only 63. There is a scholarship awarded each year in his honor.

Francis J. Quirk Painting at the Georgia Museum of Art Portrait of Queenie Williams

The Georgia Museum of Art has graciously supported the efforts to bring the works of Quirk back to light by sharing a photo of his portrait of Queenie Williams. (Thank you Sarah!)

The Georgia Museum of Art is both a university museum at the University of Georgia and, since 1982, the official state museum of art. Located on the East Campus of UGA, in the Performing and Visual Arts Complex, it opened in 1948. Recently, it completed an extensive expansion and remodeling of its building, paid for entirely with externally raised funds, that has allowed it to display its permanent collection continually. The museum offers programming for patrons of all ages, from child to senior citizen, as well as free admission to the public for all exhibitions. It organizes its own exhibitions in-house, creates traveling exhibitions for other museums and galleries and plays host to traveling exhibitions from around the country and the globe. The museum strives, most of all, to fulfill the legacy of its founder, Alfred Heber Holbrook, and provide art for everyone, removing barriers to accessibility and seeking to foster an open, educational and inspiring environment for students, scholars and the general public.

Wow! It is good to see that there is nice culture going on in the city that produces football powerhouses, providing a nice option for those who want to grow culturally before heading over to the game..


Here is how they have it cataloged.

Francis J. Quirk

The Soloist (Queenie Williams), 1968

Acrylic on board

36 x 30

GMOA 1971.2686

Credit: Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Gift of Albert Christ-Janer

The Soloist (Queenie Williams) by Francis J. Quirk

 On the portrait, the handling of the white neck piece is done particularly. It brings to mind the quote "Without color there is no white."

Here is an uncropped view with the color chart.

 

We have only had a little time to search for information on Ms. Williams.  If you have any information on her, please leave it as a comment.

 

Four more Francis Quirk Paintings at Lehigh University

Today we post the images of the final five paintings from the Lehigh University Art Gallery collection. 

 

John McDowell Leavitt by Francis Quirk Oil on Canvas Image Courtesy of Lehigh University

The first is of an earlier President of the University, John McDowell Leavitt DD who was in charge from 1875-1879. The profile portrait was painted from a picture or some other source as Quirk was not even born until 1907. The painting hangs in the University's Presidents Gallery. It is reminiscent of a Lincoln cent profile, technically very well executed with nice hands and execution of the fabrics, but is relatively uninspiring. We do not hold this against Quirk as it was probably painted to order.

"The Lunenberger R. W. F" by Francis Quirk Oil on Canvas Image Courtesy of Lehigh University

The second painting is a nautical scene of “The Lunenberger, R.W.F.” and was painted in 1970. As a boy coming of age at this time, I remember well ethereal posters and artworks such as 'Yes' Album Covers and the like that appealed to smokers of cannabis. 

Yes Album Cover Art

These were plastered all over the fraternity houses at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute that I frequented to access their Foosball tables or comic books. With its swirling clouds, this painting fits into this genre, which holds little appeal for this viewer.

  

 

Spring on South Mountain by Francis Quirk Oil on Canvas   Image Courtesy of Lehigh University

On a more positive note, the third painting from 1955 “Spring On South Mountain” holds greater appeal. The eye follows a stream up into the spring hills giving the work surprising depth.  As the trees bud out and dogwood flowers, the world transforms from the browns of winter to the bright green of early spring. The color palette is unusual, but oddly appealing. This is the first landscape of Quirk’s to come to our attention and it is a creditable work.

Biddle Pool Maine by Francis Quirk Oil on Canvas Image Courtesy of Lehigh University

The fourth painting from 1956 is “Biddle Pool Maine” and it probably was executed during one of his summers in “Vacationland.” Executed in a more painterly, ‘en plein aire’ fashion it does capture the movement of the massive waves of water one can see along the Maine Coast. 

View from Marginal Way in Ogunquit Maine

Map of Ogunquit Maine

Again hearkening back to my youth I remember walking on the Marginal Way in Ogunquit looking down over the massive rocks as gigantic waves rolled in. (How my parents let me climb among those rocks without freaking out amazes me. Perhaps that was one of the benefits of a large family- if they lost one or two there were others to carry on the family name. The portfolio theory of genetics.)

The final painting is “Young Pakistani Lady #1” and it was gifted to the school by Viola Fearnsworth. The relatively small oil on board may have been a study for something else or part of a series of studies. It is endearing in a certain way with soft hues. Beyond that there is not much more to say.

Young Pakistani Lady by Francis Quirk  
Image Courtesy of Lehigh University

We continue to scour the world for Quirk works. There are no paintings in the collection of Penn State University Museum. But there may be a few old paintings hanging around the old Ogontz College campus that is now Penn State Abington.

Map of the Penn State University System  Abington is in the lower right, near Philadelphia.

We are waiting on images from the University of Georgia and the University of Notre Dame.

The ball may have been dropped on one picture that was auctioned in New England recently. It was a landscape of fields and trees signed “T. Quirk.” After seeing more of Quirk’s signatures, I now believe in hindsight that it was executed by Francis Quirk with the ‘F’ missing the lower cross hatch. Efforts to relocate that image have been fruitless. If it turns up, we will post it for you to make your own decision.

This lengthy post would not be complete without a thank you to the helpful people at Lehigh University Art Gallery who reached into their archives for us.

Lehigh University Provides Mutliple Images of Paintings by Quirk

We reached out to Lehigh University seeking information on Quirk and his paintings. In addition to having a healthy collection of Ashcan School works they also have seven works by the "forgotten master." We are uploading the first three today all oils-

Again, the variety of styles is striking... We have a very painterly work of George Fearnside, then a group figural piece that almost brings to mind the work of Thomas Hart Benton with a bright palette and numerous figures at work. Finally we finish with a very realistic portrait of Professor Crum. He was Head of the Department of Classical Languages at Lehigh U.

Georrge Fearnside by Francis J. Quirk  Oil on Linen Image provided by Lehigh University

Mr. Fearnside graduated in 1928 from Lehigh and married a concert violinist Viola. He traveled the world working for the Dravo Company out of Pittsburgh. Both Dravo brothers were graduates of Lehigh. In their travels. The couple spent 12 years in Paris and purchased numerous drawings that have now been donated to several institutions.

The Fishermen  by Francis J. Quirk  Oil on Canvas  Image provided by Lehigh University

Earlier, we mentioned that this painting was reminiscent of Thomas Hart Benton. While the handling of the paint and forms is different, the color and composition have some similarities. See the Benton image below. The figures are in both pictures are in motion, all in different positions with brightly colored clothing.

Painting by Thomas Hart Benton

The portrait of Professor Crum was presented to him in1959 and it is very well executed in a classic pose. This pose looked familiar to us and we realized it is similar to the painting that started all this research- the portrait of Mark S. Hatfield "The Summer Pastor"

Earl Laverne Crum by Francis J. Quirk  Oil on Canvas  Image provided by Lehigh University

The Summer Pastor by Francis Quirk painted in 1944

Comparison of Quirk Portraits  He liked this view. Then again, how many different ways can you paint a portrait?

One open question in viewing the paintings 15 years apart is "Has Quirk's technique evolved? Or is he merely painting for a different customer who wanted a more classic portrait?"

Yahtzee! Lehigh University Provides Key Brochure for 1973 Exhibition

Lehigh University graciously reached into their archives and provided the pamphlet of Quirk's 1973 solo show.

We were able to excise several images from the brochure and they exhibit a variety of styles and  subjects. Many were painted while spending time at the Ossabaw Island Foundation.

Ossabaw Island is a national treasure preserved by Eleanor Torrey-West and her family for the benefit of present and future generations. Ossabaw is a 26,000 acre undeveloped barrier island on the Atlantic Ocean owned by the State of Georgia and located in Chatham County and not too far from Savannah. The island was generously transferred to the State of Georgia on June 15,1978 and designated as Georgia’s first Heritage Preserve with the written understanding that Ossabaw would “only be used for natural, scientific and cultural study, research and education, and environmentally sound preservation, conservation and management of the Island’s ecosystem.” The acquisition was made possible by the generosity of Mrs. West and her family, a personal gift to the State of Georgia from Robert W. Woodruff, the assistance of The Nature Conservancy, and the State’s commitment to preservation of the island.

Ossabaw Island on Georgia's Coast

The Ossabaw Island Foundation is a public non-profit 501 c3.  Through a public-private partnership with the State of Georgia, inspires, promotes, and manages exceptional educational, cultural, and scientific programs that are designed to maximize the experience of Ossabaw Island, while minimizing the impact on its resources.

The Foundation welcomes all creative people including writers to come and work on the island and be inspired by Ossabaw's solitude and beauty.

In order to continue to balance their operating budget they are no longer able to support complimentray stays.

 Now back to Quirk and the exhibition...

The following is text from the pamphlet printed with the Francis Quirk; Recent Work exhibit at Lehigh Univerisity that opened on May 4, 1973.

As my predecessor in the positions of educator, curator, and director of exhibitions at Lehigh University, it is appropriate that Francis J. Quirk be honored in this ultimate gallery presentation of my first year at Lehigh. It is equally fitting that this is no retrospective display of Mr. Quirk’s talent as an artist, not another “ gold watch” to be placed on his chain of achievements but rather is clear evidence of his continued vitality and contribution to Lehigh and the much larger community he has served so well and in so many ways for many years.

Most of the works on display are the fruits of a grant from the Ossabaw Island Foundation and of Mr. Quirk’s efforts last fall while living on the unspoiled island off the coast of Georgia that this foundation maintains. 

The paintings and drawing in this exhibition clearly reveal that the artist is an Eclectic; but it is hardly a negative judgment to define his work in this way. The variety of subject matter –portraits, genre scenes, nature studies, abstractions of “found objects” –and the range of techniques that Mr. Quirk has employed on his canvases to communicate his reactions to these subjects supports his own estimation of his approach to art: that the eye is a window, but that the hand, in recording what the eye sees, does so also under the controls of emotional reaction and of reason. Thus he sees an object, a sitter’s character, the essence of a landscape or genre scene not merely through lenses, but through his own feelings for these subjects and through knowledge of how such subjects have been seen by generations of artists before him. He then applies that technique or composition which best suits the qualities in the subject and his feeling for it, in order to communicate these to us, his audience. Hence his study of a constructed, found object such as “4 Step Gantry Gate” has “hand-edged,” “op” qualities as well as Picabia-like realism in a mechanically impossible construction and is executed suitably in acrylic. His “Glossy (im.) & White-faced Ibis,” employs the soft naturalism of a Degas to capture the mood of the scene at Ossabaw; while his “Portrait of the Artist #3” is done in a forceful, slashing technique, analogous to that of De Kooning, that grants us more than a mere superficial view of the artist’s facial topography. 

Mr. Quirk is “his own man,” a Yankee individualist, bound to no single school of painting or fashion of the moment. 

Donald D. Schneider, Director

Four Step Gantry Gate  acrylic painting by Francis J. Quirk

Black and White Image of Four Step Gantry by Francis J. Quirk  Gate  Acrylic on Canvas  From Exhibition Pamphlet at Lehigh University.

Glossy White Faced Iris painted by Francis J. Quirk

Black and White Image of Glossy White Faced Iris by Francis J. Quirk  Gate  oil on Canvas  From 1973 Exhibition Pamphlet at Lehigh University.

 

Portrait of the Artist #3  by Francis J. Quirk

Black and White Image of Portrait of the Artist #3 by Francis J. Quirk  Oil on Canvas  From 1973 Exhibition Pamphlet at Lehigh University

One interesting aspect of Quirk’s work is that he was so versatile; using watercolor, oil, acrylic and pastels. He also had a variety of styles; the Four Step Gantry Gate is reminiscent of Escher’s work, and Portrait of the Artist #3 evokes De Kooning.  While he was awarded with the Ossabaw and Tiffany fellowships, he did not achieve widespread fame in his own lifetime.  Perhaps that versatility worked against him.