Quirk Nautical Painting- The Black Star

As part of our ongoing quest to track-down the work of Francis Quirk we share the image of the Black Star- a three masted schooner under full sail. The ship is painted from the aft-starboard point of-view in moderate seas with a sky filled with billowing clouds.

The Black Star by Francis Quirk

Unlike the ship in our previous post, we were not able to find any information on a schooner by this name.  Interestingly, there was a shipping line established by an African American entrepreneur named Marcus Garvey that operated from 1919-1922. The name being a play on the famous Cunard White Star line that included the Titanic. 

More Francis Quirk Art Comes to Light- Watercolor Painting of the Abraham Rydberg

Through relatives of Francis Quirk we have obtained more watercolor nautical images. 

This post is devoted to the watercolor painting of the bow of the Abraham Rydberg. The work is reminiscent of another watercolor discussed in an earlier post. This painting was executed in 1941 when the ship had been in service for almost 30 years. And with the advent of World War II, her days as a merchant vessel were numbered.  Like many of Quirk's other maritime paintings we can see his attention to detail in the handling of the rigging and the anchor chain. 

Francis J. Quirk Watercolor Painting of the Abraham Rydberg

The Abraham Rydberg was a four masted, steel Barque built in Glasgow Scotland in 1892 as a vessel to bring Sugar from Hawaii to the mainland.  As late as the 1930's the ship was still in commercial service carrying grain between Sweden and Australia; making the trip in 105 days each way. It was later acquired by the US Coast Guard (1945?) and renamed "The Seven Seas." In 1957 it was broken up for scrap. 

Photograph of the Abraham Rydberg Under Sail.

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 Brooklyn, Yale 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.

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 by Francis Quirk

Watercolor by Francis Quirk

Watercolor by Francis Quirk

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. 

Quirk Exhibition Review Notice 1970

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. 

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. 

Staff Page of The Student Designer 1930    Image Complements of RISD Digital Commons

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.

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.

Glossy White Faced Ibis by Francis Quirk

You can see the original post on his Ossabaw work here.