Visit to National Portrait Gallery Archives to View Francis Quirk Portrait of Edgar Lee Masters

The staff at the National Portrait Gallery have been wonderfully supportive of our efforts to learn more about Francis Quirk's portrait of Edgar Lee Masters.  In addition to providing images, they have allowed us to visit their archives building to see the painting up close.

 

The archives are kept in a very plane looking warehouse type building in the suburbs of Washington D.C. As we pulled up, I hinted to my sons that we might find the Lost Ark of movie fame inside. While we did not find Indy's treasure, we did see others; reaffirming my conviction that Museums have an opportunity to bring art lovers closer through tours of the archives.

 

After signing in, Todd walked us through a labyrinth of clean hallways, past a photographic set-up and into a bay containing a myriad of paintings and sculptures. The Edgar Lee Masters Portrait was set up on an easel. Its strength was immediately apparent.

Edgar Lee Masters Portrait by Francis Quirk

Edgar Lee Masters Portrait by Francis Quirk with eight year old for scale

Once lit... Wow! 

Edgar Lee Masters Portrait by Francis Quirk with lighting

Below are some close ups of key areas including the face, hands, and the Quirk Self-Portrait.

Edgar Lee Masters Portrait by Francis Quirk Close up of Face

Edgar Lee Masters Portrait by Francis Quirk Close up of Hands with Pipe

Edgar Lee Masters Portrait by Francis Quirk Close up of Books on Shelf

Beyond the excellent execution, one of the most interesting features of the painting is the self-portrait that is in the upper right hand corner. Quirk has included an inscription to his friend- "In Fullest admiration to Edgar Lee Masters Francis J. Quirk."

Edgar Lee Masters Portrait by Francis Quirk- Close up of Corner with Quirk Self Portrait

Close up of Self-Portrait by Francis Quirk in Portrait of Edgar Lee Masters

Artist Francis Quirk's Train Locomotive Watercolors

We continue bringing to light the works of Francis Quirk by sharing two striking watercolor images of a train locomotive with an adjacent freight car. The images  capture the engine obliquely from the front with smoke rising from an active boiler fire. 

Watercolor Train Locomotive Image by Artist Francis Quirk

Watercolor Locomotive Image by Artist Francis Quirk

The House in the background of the second painting is reminiscent of Edward Hopper's work. It may be that Quirk's watercolors were executed when Quirk was in Cape Cod Massachusetts as a young man in the early 1930's. For perspective we are including a few train related works of Hopper below. Several of these works were executed in the 1920's on the Cape or in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Given the geographic proximity of the two artists and the similarity of their work, it is fair to assume that Hopper had a significant influence on Francis. 

Locomotive and Freight Car by Edward Hopper

D. & R. G. Locomotive by Edward Hopper

Freight Car at Truro by Edward Hopper

House by the Railroad by Edward Hopper

Railroad Train by Edward Hopper

Circus Wagon 1926 by Edward Hopper

Locomotive by Edward Hopper

National Portrait Gallery Provides Improved Edgar Lee Masters Portrait Image and Wow! Francis J.Quirks' Self-Portrait is in the Gallery as Well.

Portrait of Edgar Lee Masters in the National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery graciously provided the image above of master painter Francis Quirk's painting of Edgar Lee Masters. In this version, you can more clearly see the picture on the wall, the figure on the desk, and the open book on the book case. 

We began examining the picture on the wall thinking that perhaps it was Hemingway. But an enlargement blew us away!  It appears that the painted photo on the wall is a depiction of Francis J. Quirk with a signed dedication. It appears that Francis J. Quirk is one of few artists with a self-portrait and a portrait in the National Portrait Gallery.

Francis J. Quirk's self portrait in the National Portrait Gallery within the Portrait of Edgar Lee Masters

This reminds one of perhaps the world's most famous self-portrait within a portrait Velasquez' Las Meninas, which was painted in 1656. Velasquez is standing at left. 

Diego Velasquez painting "Las Meninas" 1656

Quirk's Pastel Portraits

Francis Quirk executed some exceptional portraits with pastels. Here we provide the ones we have captured in our image library.

He is shown working in pastel in a photo of him in the Brown and White's profile piece published with his retirement from Lehigh University. Earlier at Ogontz College he executed a pastel portrait to a top student every year.

Francis Quirk at work with pastels creating a portrait at Lehigh University. The photo was published in the School's newspaper- "The Brown and White" 

The portraits show his mastery of draftsmanship,shade and color. In the portraits of young children, one can see that he had challenges with getting the relationships of the facial features in proper proportion. Yet in those portraits there are elements executed with great dexterity including a bunny, lobster claw and carriage.

Pastel Portrait by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Portrait of twins by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Portrait of Young Lady Holding a Dog by Francis J. Quirk

Maritime Sailor Pastel Portrait by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Portrait of Woman with Dog by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Portrait by Francis J. Quirk

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Pastel Portrait by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Self- Portrait by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Portrait by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Self-Portrait by Francis J. Quirk

"Smoking Man" Pastel Portrait by Francis J. Quirk  Image Courtesy of a Private Collector

Pastel Portrait by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Portrait by Francis J. Quirk- This was a study for an oil painting.

Pastel Portrait by Francis J. Quirk   This was a study for an oil painting.

Pastel Portrait by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Portrait by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Portrait by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Portrait by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Portrait of boy with art and lobster claw by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Portrait of a Child by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Portrait of a Child by Francis J. Quirk

Pastel Portrait by Francis J. Quirk Possibly his wife Anna?

Quirk's Undraped Pastel Portraits and Figure Studies

Francis Quirk worked in a variety of media including oil, water color, pencil, charcoal and pastel. 

We share with you below a few pastel nudes that were part of the Maine estate sale late in 2016. We still have quite a bit of material from that sale to share including pastel portraits and watercolors. Some of them are quite well-done.

The portraits have some striking elements including the lighting on the face below and the treatment of the eye in the second. Interestingly, the first portrait hints at the way Quirk executed hair. First filling it in with dark in entirety, then laying down color and highlights on top of it. In this portrait, judging by the hairline, it appears to be more of an afterthought. 

Pastel Portrait by Francis Quirk

Pastel Portrait by Francis Quirk

The figure studies were probably executed during his academic training- perhaps at the Rhode Island School of Design. The second appears to have some issues in the relative size of the leg. We include them for completeness and to provide some insights into his training.

Pastel Figure Study by Francis Quirk

Pastel Figure Study by Francis Quirk

Pastel Figure Study by Francis J. Quirk

Francis Quirk and the Lehigh University Art Gallery

Lehigh University has a long history with art dating back to its first exhibit in 1865 when the institution was founded by businessman Asa Packer. For the first twenty years the school was free, but tuition was eventually instated due to financing challenges.While it seems odd now, the school did not become coeducational until the 1971-72 academic year.

The Lehigh University Art Department was established in 1926 and run by Garth Howland who studied Moravian Architecture and brought in guest artists as teachers during World War II.

In 1950, Quirk was hired as an Associate Professor; succeeding Howland and initially teaching an art appreciation course. In 1953 he was promoted to full Professor. He also is listed that same year as Director of Exhibits and became Curator of the Collection in 1959. In addition to his work with the collection, he was also a professor of Fine Art. In 1957, he is listed as Chairman of the Department of Fine Arts. In 1962, he won the University's Lindbeck Award for distinguished teaching. He retired from the school in 1969.

Francis Quirk discussing a painting with philanthropist Ralph L. Wilson   Courtesy of a Lehigh University Photographic Collection

Quirk also worked to groom donors and build the collection. These include Ralph Wilson who would later give several important paintings including works by Warhol, Prendergast, Matisse, Marsden Hartley, Ellsworth Kelly, Glackens and others.

Portrait of Mrs. Edith King by Maurice Prendergast  Image Courtesy of Lehigh University Art Gallery

A Summer Rain by Charles Burchfield  Image Courtesy of Lehigh University Art Gallery

Nude Dressing Hair by William Glackens   Image Courtesy of Lehigh University Art Gallery

Like any University or Department thereof, the leader takes on what is there from the predecessor, molds it and then leaves it for the following leader to begin the remolding process anew. One thing is clear. And that is that Quirk left a fine foundation for those of them to build upon.

The Lehigh University Art Gallery (LUAG) was established in the 1980's by Professor Ricardo Viera and is the Teaching Museum at Lehigh University. LUAG maintains and develops the university’s world-class art collection, which now numbers over 13,000 objects, presenting exhibitions in seven galleries located throughout Lehigh’s three campuses. The collection and exhibition schedule is extensive.

More than twenty exhibitions a year introduce students and the community to current topics in art, architecture, history, science, and technology. The exhibition schedule is supplemented by lectures, films, workshops, and research opportunities in the teaching collection. The galleries occupy exhibition, storage, office and workshop space in several campus locations. The Main Gallery and Lower Gallery teaching collection exhibitions are in the Zoellner Arts Center. Other galleries are: DuBois Gallery, Maginnes Hall; the Gallery at Rauch Business Center; Girdler Student Gallery, University Center; and Siegel Gallery, Iacocca Hall on the Mountaintop Campus. The Muriel and Philip Berman Sculpture Gardens are located on Memorial Walkway, Mountaintop Campus, and Saucon Fields on the Murray H. Goodman Campus. The Ralph L. Wilson Study Gallery is located in Building J, Mountaintop Campus and available by appointment.

You can find a list of current exhibitions here.