DOI issue:
Nr. 334 (March 1925)
DOI article:Nelson, Helen Charlotta: Early American primitives
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19984#0196
mceRtiACionAL
gathering of folks of several generations ago,
met for the first time since they busied
themselves about the affairs of the quiet
little village. If they could find their voices
what a deal of talk there would be anent the
changed times, and of those superior, less
hectic days when the "limner" announced
his arrival and engaged himself to paint
these selfsame "speaking likenesses." There
would be notes of complaint from more than
one regarding his or her fallen state, for it
must be confessed that some of these choice
ancestors were coaxed from their descend-
ants out ol dusty attics. Just here we come
to a point which cannot be emphasized too
strongly. These quaint souvenirs of a by-
gone time have a distinct artistic worth of
their own.
The larger number of portraits in this
group obviously came from the same hand,
that of a man who may have received his
initial training as a carriage or sign painter
but who was possessed of a strong feeling for
the decorative and of ability to catch a con-
john milton raymond, esq., IO36 . . _ .
property of mrs. haxton vincing likeness. Certain of the present
owners recall hearing their grandparents
another generation before the era of locomotion speak of a man who, driving up from New York
broke into the quiet peace of the Housatonic in a wagon and stopping at each hamlet through
Valley we might today be able to collect there a which he passed, hired a room in the village for a
group of more artistic import than is that
under discussion. Nevertheless, in passing 0 0 ^>>
r 0 phoebe preston haviland, 1514-1010
one may point out that what was true of
Kent was also true of virtually all of the
early settled sections of the east—that a
very real start was made toward the forming
of a native art springing from local condi-
tions, and typical of the quaint life of the
time.
The characteristics of this prematurely
checked growth are eloquently revealed by
the illustrations accompanying this text and
it is interesting to observe how much in
common this art has with certain phases of
the "modern movement" in art today.
Naivete, a word fresh to our art criticism
but a few years back when the famous
Armory show startled New York, but all too
hackneyed today, is nevertheless the best to
employ when writing of the works under
present consideration. Here on finds simply
a gentle art which grew with patience and
sincerity backed by a genuine urge to deco-
rate and to relieve the barrenness of the walls
of homes which conquerors of the wilderness
had brought near to perfection.
Let us visualize for the moment this
property of mrs. augusta bedell
jour Jifty-six
march 1925
gathering of folks of several generations ago,
met for the first time since they busied
themselves about the affairs of the quiet
little village. If they could find their voices
what a deal of talk there would be anent the
changed times, and of those superior, less
hectic days when the "limner" announced
his arrival and engaged himself to paint
these selfsame "speaking likenesses." There
would be notes of complaint from more than
one regarding his or her fallen state, for it
must be confessed that some of these choice
ancestors were coaxed from their descend-
ants out ol dusty attics. Just here we come
to a point which cannot be emphasized too
strongly. These quaint souvenirs of a by-
gone time have a distinct artistic worth of
their own.
The larger number of portraits in this
group obviously came from the same hand,
that of a man who may have received his
initial training as a carriage or sign painter
but who was possessed of a strong feeling for
the decorative and of ability to catch a con-
john milton raymond, esq., IO36 . . _ .
property of mrs. haxton vincing likeness. Certain of the present
owners recall hearing their grandparents
another generation before the era of locomotion speak of a man who, driving up from New York
broke into the quiet peace of the Housatonic in a wagon and stopping at each hamlet through
Valley we might today be able to collect there a which he passed, hired a room in the village for a
group of more artistic import than is that
under discussion. Nevertheless, in passing 0 0 ^>>
r 0 phoebe preston haviland, 1514-1010
one may point out that what was true of
Kent was also true of virtually all of the
early settled sections of the east—that a
very real start was made toward the forming
of a native art springing from local condi-
tions, and typical of the quaint life of the
time.
The characteristics of this prematurely
checked growth are eloquently revealed by
the illustrations accompanying this text and
it is interesting to observe how much in
common this art has with certain phases of
the "modern movement" in art today.
Naivete, a word fresh to our art criticism
but a few years back when the famous
Armory show startled New York, but all too
hackneyed today, is nevertheless the best to
employ when writing of the works under
present consideration. Here on finds simply
a gentle art which grew with patience and
sincerity backed by a genuine urge to deco-
rate and to relieve the barrenness of the walls
of homes which conquerors of the wilderness
had brought near to perfection.
Let us visualize for the moment this
property of mrs. augusta bedell
jour Jifty-six
march 1925