Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Ten Reasons to Visit Smaller Art Museums in Second Cities and on University Campuses

In the course of my travels I have visited over a hundred art museums in the US and other countries. Yet, the number of people who do not capitalize on the opportunity to visit the smaller museums in second cities and at universities is surprising.  There is so much wonderful art waiting for them to see. So, here are ten reasons to break out and visit smaller art museums in smaller cities.

1. Every museum has something special.  There is a reason why these museums were built- to serve as, or house, objects of beauty. Be it the glass collection in Flint, the Tiffany works in Winter Haven the Fabergé collection in New Orleans, or the Leonardo Da Vinci painting in Worcester.  You may be quite surprised! The art museum in Worcester Massachusetts has the finest Roman Mosaics and medieval arms collection in the hemisphere. There are beautiful things waiting for you. So check them out.

2. These regional museums are more intimate. Sure, New York's Metropolitan has a great collection, but walking through there and mingling among the throngs can be overwhelming.  See the Met, by all means. But, art does not end in Manhattan.  Head to BrooklynYale or Princeton and you will be pleasantly surprised.

A Cyrus Dallin Sculpture in Arlington Massachusetts

3. The security and staff can be more accommodating. I recently had a private tour at the Cyrus Dallin Museum. A staff member took the time to explain the history behind this amazing sculptor who designed the angel for Salt Lake City's Mormon Tabernacle. The security team at Grand Rapids includes well-informed students; one of whom talked at length with me about the Albrecht Dürer prints display.

4. The buildings can be worth a visit in and of themselves. Bilbao, Spain is the obvious example of this, but Colby College Museum of Art or Hartford's Wadsworth Atheneum are wonderful pieces of architecture.
Colby College Art Museum

5.You get to learn about what is important in that place. The Corning Museum of Glass showcases 35 centuries of the product, while the Washington University's Kemper Gallery has Caleb Bingham's famous painting of Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the Cumberland Gap. These museums offer a great way to learn about a region and its history.


Exhibit at the Corning Museum of Glass

6. The Museums often have wonderful locations. San Diego's Museum of Art is located in the heart of beautiful Balboa Park. The Getty is on a hilltop overlooking the ocean. Milwaukee's Museum is on the lake. Who doesn't enjoy the walk through a beautiful university campus such as Harvard's to get to the Fogg or Urbana-Champaign to get to the Krannert? If you take your children, they might eventually be motivated to complete their college applications on time!

The Getty Museum

7. Visiting museums can make work travel less painful.  The first 50 business trips are fun. But after that, being on the road gets old quickly. For a break from client meetings, I have taken consulting teams to art museums in Indianapolis, Toronto, and Cambridge, England  which was greatly appreciated.  And more than once, I have brought a taxi driver along with me for company. If I am going to pay her to wait, she might as well get some culture!

8. Smaller museums costs less. While visiting a major urban art museum may cost $20-$30 for a ticket and another $20 for parking, these small museums frequently charge less than $10. And parking often is free.


9. It supports these important institutions. These Museums are not just displays, they are cultural centers for their communities, providing art education, AP art history classes, concerts, cultural events and even citizenship ceremonies. When you visit an art museum you are supporting a community's cultural vibrancy.

The Sharpshooter by Winslow Homer Portland Museum of Art

10. It gives you a reason to get off the beaten path. If you are visiting the Maine outlets, stop in at the Portland Museum of Art. Take the road less traveled. You will have seen a bit more and have a broader picture of the world.

Monday, June 25, 2018

Three New Quirk Watercolors Come to Light

When we photographed the art works available for auction in 2016 in Maine we missed a few as we ran out of camera disc space. Fortunately, while perusing the internet, we were able to find a few more images of works as the original purchaser put them up for auction elsewhere. Here are three of the works we missed.

The first may have been painted early in Quirk's life when he was spending time in Provincetown, MA on Cape Cod. Earlier we had notcied some parallels or similarities between a few of Quirk's paintings and with the work of Edward Hopper. This painting would also fit into that category. 

Watercolor image of Cape Cod house and dunes by Francis Quirk
Watercolor by Francis Quirk

Watercolor image of cabin in the mountains by Pennsylvania painter Francis Quirk
Watercolor by Francis Quirk

Watercolor image by Francis Quirk
Watercolor by Francis Quirk

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

National Coverage of Francis Quirk Impossible Art Exhibit in the Hamptons

We recently received this reference to Quirk's participation in the Impossible Art Exhibit show at the East Hampton Gallery. 

It appears in the February 1970 edition of artsmagazine.  We have not been able to find more information on the gallery itself. 

Francis Quirk Exhibition Review East Hampton Gallery
Quirk Exhibition Review Notice 1970


Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Francis Quirk at RISD an Interest in Industrial Design

In our ongoing quest for information about Francis Quirk, we were surprised to see that we missed something in the archives of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). (It may be that they are adding content to the digital library.) Francis Quirk was listed in the departmental staff of the Student Designer for Art. 
Student Designer 1930 Rhode Island School of Design  Francis Quirk on Staff
Cover of a 1930 Edition of the Student Designer Published at RISD

When we went through the publication we could not find any byline or accreditation to him. At the time he would have been completing a post-graduate year. 

This is the second reference to his becoming involved in a Student Publication. The other was a more eclectic piece called the Salamander.  The Salamander was a short-lived student publication released monthly during the 1925-1926 academic year at the Rhode Island School of Design. Originally printed one-sided, in January 1926 the paper began to be printed on both sides of the page. Its contents were mostly comprised of fictional gossip and humor. Hand drawn illustrations are also included.  You can read more about the Salamander in an earlier blog post here. 







Francis Quirk,   Student Designer,   Publication Rhode Island School of Design
Staff Page of The Student Designer 1930    Image Complements of RISD Digital Commons

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Beautiful Quirk Painting of Seagulls Comes to Light

The second painting that recently came to light from a relative of Francis Quirk is a beautiful watercolor of seagulls. Quirk carefully worked the images of many birds in different alignments and positions on a sky blue background. It appears that he decided to work on his depiction of the waterfowl as an exercise and sought to paint them in a variety of postures as an exercise to improve his hand and master painting the creatures.

Seagulls Image, Painting of Seagulls, Quirk Art, Quirk Watercolor, Francis Quirk Painting, Francis J. Quirk Watercolor Painting
Seagull Painting by Francis J. Quirk


We had always known of Quirk's love of the sea, sailboats and coastal Maine. However, we had not seen a painting quite like this one before. Late in his life, he painted several landscape paintings as part of his Ossabaw Island Foundation Fellowship. Birds appeared in these paintings, but they were largely accents to the image adding a bit of action and life to placid scenes. There was one exception to this which is his painting of glossy faced ibis which we highlight below.  Thus, we were a bit surprised to see the "42"date which indicated that the work was executed when Quirk was in his mid 30's.

Ibis image, Ibis painting, bird ibis image, Quirk Art, Quirk Painting From Nature
Glossy White Faced Ibis by Francis Quirk


Sunday, April 15, 2018

New Quirk Art Surfaces From a Relative

Two new Francis Quirk paintings have surfaced from a relative of Francis Quirk. This post will focus on the first; a nautical painting. Quirk's summer home, Peterspen North was in Kinney Shores, Maine and he looked forward to spending time there after his retirement from Lehigh University. We suspect that this painting was executed during one of his many summers on the rocky maritime coast. 

We were particularly excited to see this painting of two fishermen heading to sea for two reasons beyond adding it to our growing image library. The first is that it is an attractive painting with an ethereal quality to the sunlight that is particularly pleasing. The ocean has not yet taken on a blue color, but is still reflecting the light of the rising sun. 

Quirk Art, Francis Quirk, Quirk Artist, Quirk Painting, Quirk Painter
Francis Quirk Painting of Fishermen Heading Out to Sea
The second reason is that we have an image of a companion painting. It is a darker composition of a boat heading in the opposite direction. Yet in this companion painting, the sky has become fully blue and the outboard engine powered boat is riding much lower in the water.  There also appears to be cargo in the front. 


Quirk art, Quirk painting, Quirk artist, Quirk painter
Francis J. Quirk Painting "Boat in an Ocean"
We display the paintings below in smaller format side by side for comparison. 




Monday, April 9, 2018

Francis Quirk Curates Stanley Woodward Show in 1964

Continuing in our series on artists whose careers were enhanced through the work of Francis Quirk we look at Stanley Woodward who had a solo show at Lehigh's Alumni Gallery in May of 1964.

Our research into Woodward's show was prompted by the print he signed and dedicated to Quirk that we found among the papers auctioned in 2016 in Maine. The print image is shown  below.

 
New Hampshire Farm in Winter by Stanley Woodward  


The inscription reads "
From Stanley Woodward 
To Francis J. Quirk
With Warm Regards August 1, 1965"



Quirk Art, Quirk Artist,  Quirk Curator
Inscription to Francis Quirk from Stanley Woodword

We assembled the biography below on Stanley Wingate Woodward from a variety of sources. But do read on further as we have quite a lot to show from this prolific artist. 


Rockport (Massachusetts) painter and illustrator, Stanley Wingate Woodward (1890-1970) was well recognized for his marines and seascapes. He was born in Malden Massachusetts. 

Woodward's education included studies at Eric Pape School Art, School of the Boston Museum Fine Arts, and the Pennsylvania Academy Fine Arts.

He was the author of "Adventures in Marine Painting" (1948) and "Marine Painting in Oil and Watercolor" (1961). He was an illustrator for Collier's and Ford Times magazines. Woodward also was an instructor at the Woodward Outdoor Painting School (1935 -); Ringling Art School (1937-38); and the Laguna Beach School of Art & Design (1963).  He served in the United States Amy in both World Wars. He held numerous exhibitions and one-man shows.

He lived for many years in Rockport, Massachusetts with studios there as well as in Ogunquit Maine. The distinctive natural beauty of the New England coast inspired his passion for nautical subjects, which comprise the majority of his work,

He was represented by Grand Central Art Galleries, NY and the Vose Gallery, Boston.

He was belonged to many organizations and won numerous prizes, National Academy, American Watercolor Society, Baltimore Watercolor Society, the Concord Art Association,   Society of America Etchers, Boston Society of Water Color Painters, Salmagundi Club, Allied Artists American, Guild of Boston Artists, Audubon Artists New York, Rockport Art Association (prize oil 1959, Charles H. Cleaves Memorial award 1965), North Shore Arts Association (past president, Gordon Grant Mmel. award 1967), Springfield Art League (honorary), Philadelphia Water Color Club, and Academy Political Science. Other awards include the Gold medal, Jordan Marsh, 1959, 65, 1st prize watercolor American Academy Artists, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1959, Gaylord Marine prize oils, 1960, Winsor Newton prize, American Professional League, 1962, Mitton Memorial prize, 1965.

He was a member of numerous organizations including  the Concord Art Association,   Society of America Etchers, Boston Society of Water Color Painters, Allied Artists American, Guild of Boston Artists, Audubon Artists New York, Rockport Art Association (prize oil 1959, Charles H. Cleaves Memorial award 1965), North Shore Arts Association (past president, Gordon Grant Mmel. award 1967), Springfield Art League (honorary), Philadelphia Water Color Club, Academy Political Science and the Salmagundi Club.


His paintings can be found in many Museums and Collections including the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Bowdoin College, Amherst College, Fort Worth Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Fogg Museum at Harvard University and a host of other private collections.




Stanley Woodward in His Studio

Since both artists were active in the Philadelphia and Ogunquit areas, there is little doubt that Quirk and Woodward met on at least a few occasions. And the affinity might have been enhanced by their sharing an affinity for the sea and a representational style.  One key difference may have been the larger name achieved by Woodward and the long tail that remains in the art world.  For example, a quick search has revealed over a hundred images of Woodward paintings in collections or that have changed hands at auction. When we began this project of learning about Quirk, we were able to locate 10-15 images.

Below is the announcement in the Brown and White describing the exhibition. 





We have made the presumption that Woodward may have influenced Quirk as he was about 17 years older.  Below we present paintings of similar subjects by both artists for you to decide if there is artistic overlap or influence. 


Stanley Woodward

quirk art   Coastal painting
Francis Quirk


It may also be that the two artists were swimming in the same milieu and there are a few types of views that make better paintings. Thus by chance they may have painted the same subjects. 


Stanley Woodward 


Francis Quirk

We will close this post with two paintings by Stanley Woodward that both show the old barn. He painted it a number of times. 


The Old Red Barn by Stanley Woodward

New Hampshire Farm in Winter by Stanley Woodward
May 2018 update. We found the painting below going up for auction at the Sandwich Auction Gallery on Cape Cod. It appears that Woodward loved painting "The Red Barn." Although this one appears different from those above.