Folinsbee Considered

F O L I N S B E E CONSI D E R E D

C ON T EN T S

6

4

f or e wor d

Brian Peterson

12

ac k now l e d gm e n ts

16

I. Introduction

24

II. The Early Years

44

III. New Hope Impressionist

62

IV. An Artist in Transition

76

V. A New Hope Modernist

92

VI. New Deal Murals

101

VII. The Expressionist

120

VIII. Maine

128

IX. A Final Note

136

plates

215

Catalogue of Selected Landscape and Genre Paintings

274

Chronology

280

Exhibition History 1912-2012

306

Literature

308

Index

5

C ON T EN T S

6

4

f or e wor d

Brian Peterson

12

ac k now l e d gm e n ts

16

I. Introduction

24

II. The Early Years

44

III. New Hope Impressionist

62

IV. An Artist in Transition

76

V. A New Hope Modernist

92

VI. New Deal Murals

101

VII. The Expressionist

120

VIII. Maine

128

IX. A Final Note

136

plates

215

Catalogue of Selected Landscape and Genre Paintings

274

Chronology

280

Exhibition History 1912-2012

306

Literature

308

Index

5

F OLINSBEE RE V E A LED John Bigelow Taylor and Dianne Dubler Photographers

20 years have passed since we photographed the works of J ohn F olinsbee for a book by his son-in-law, Peter Cook. Working with film, we simply saw the paintings in their entirety. Since then, the technological advances in photography have been profound. The digital-capture we now use allows us to look much more deeply into paintings.

We now zoom into the painting at 100% of the resolution to check focus.

Because of the high-resolution of our camera we look with extreme closeness at the work - not possible before digital imaging (without holding a magnifying glass to the canvas or a loupe on the final transparency) and certainly not while actually photographing. As we travel through the painting, each close-up framed by the screen of the monitor presents a new image, isolated from its actual location.

Discoveries at this level of magnification have been startling. Not only do the brushwork and the mix of the paints become readily apparent, but small vignettes appear. For instance, the streetlight from Night and the water tower from Paper Mill filled our screen with the presence of the impasto’s threedimensionality. Surely, as the artist works on a painting he sees it much the same way – zeroing in on a figure, concentrating on a sky or, in the case of a portrait, working on a sitter’s lips or eyes. With the current technology, a portal opens into the technique and possibly even the thinking of the artist.

We do not mean to usurp the artist’s authority - the totality of his image is exactly what was intended. Abstract images (such as the detail from The Harbor and the rocks from The Quarry) were certainly far from Folinsbee’s intent.

We are merely celebrating discoveries technology has allowed us to make and enjoy elements of the work heretofore not accessible. Just the same, these newly revealed details easily stand alone and a different appreciation for the painting develops. This is exemplified by both the detail of the buildings from Belvedere Branch and the figures from Canal in Winter. Revealed by magnification and isolation, these details present a new understanding of the virtuosity of the artist.

To paraphrase Mies van der Rohe, the “wow” is in the details.

As the photography for this book progressed, many familiar with the works expressed surprise at discovering elements they had never noticed in paintings they had lived with for years. Art critic John Berger would call this, albeit artificially induced, a more mindful ‘seeing.’

b

a

e

d

f c a. Canal in Winter b. Belvedere Branch c. Night

16

d. Quarry e. Harbor f. Paper Mill

17

F OLINSBEE RE V E A LED John Bigelow Taylor and Dianne Dubler Photographers

20 years have passed since we photographed the works of J ohn F olinsbee for a book by his son-in-law, Peter Cook. Working with film, we simply saw the paintings in their entirety. Since then, the technological advances in photography have been profound. The digital-capture we now use allows us to look much more deeply into paintings.

We now zoom into the painting at 100% of the resolution to check focus.

Because of the high-resolution of our camera we look with extreme closeness at the work - not possible before digital imaging (without holding a magnifying glass to the canvas or a loupe on the final transparency) and certainly not while actually photographing. As we travel through the painting, each close-up framed by the screen of the monitor presents a new image, isolated from its actual location.

Discoveries at this level of magnification have been startling. Not only do the brushwork and the mix of the paints become readily apparent, but small vignettes appear. For instance, the streetlight from Night and the water tower from Paper Mill filled our screen with the presence of the impasto’s threedimensionality. Surely, as the artist works on a painting he sees it much the same way – zeroing in on a figure, concentrating on a sky or, in the case of a portrait, working on a sitter’s lips or eyes. With the current technology, a portal opens into the technique and possibly even the thinking of the artist.

We do not mean to usurp the artist’s authority - the totality of his image is exactly what was intended. Abstract images (such as the detail from The Harbor and the rocks from The Quarry) were certainly far from Folinsbee’s intent.

We are merely celebrating discoveries technology has allowed us to make and enjoy elements of the work heretofore not accessible. Just the same, these newly revealed details easily stand alone and a different appreciation for the painting develops. This is exemplified by both the detail of the buildings from Belvedere Branch and the figures from Canal in Winter. Revealed by magnification and isolation, these details present a new understanding of the virtuosity of the artist.

To paraphrase Mies van der Rohe, the “wow” is in the details.

As the photography for this book progressed, many familiar with the works expressed surprise at discovering elements they had never noticed in paintings they had lived with for years. Art critic John Berger would call this, albeit artificially induced, a more mindful ‘seeing.’

b

a

e

d

f c a. Canal in Winter b. Belvedere Branch c. Night

16

d. Quarry e. Harbor f. Paper Mill

17

fig. 8.4

fig. 8.5

fig. 8.6

Figure 8.4 William Thon, Quarry, ca. 1952, watercolor and perhaps India ink on paper, 27 1/2 x 41 inches (69.9 x 104.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, New York: Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 53.144. © Portland Museum of Art, Maine. All rights reserved.

Figure 8.5 Quarry, ca. 1950s. John F. Folinsbee Art Trust.

Figure 8.6 Riverbank, Bucks County, 1956.

Private collection.

F OLINSBEE C ONSIDERED

M A INE

Among their favorite spots were region’s abandoned quarries, particularly Long Cove Quarry in Tenants Harbor. They were captivated by the dramatic verticals and faceted surfaces of the rocks, and the rich tonal variations in the stone and quarry pools. The ways the friends portrayed these elements in their final paintings, however, reveal distinct artistic visions and personal means of expression. Thon produced ethereal renderings of the quarry primarily in ink and watercolor, creating dense, built-up surfaces with successive layers of wash to convey the sculptural forms of the rocks and trees lining the site. (fig. 8.4) Flattened pictorial space and a sense of timelessness and universality emphasize the planar structure of the quarries in these works. Folinsbee also focused on the architectural qualities of the rock face as it rose from the still surface of the quarry pool, which he painted in rich jewel tones of emerald and aquamarine. But his depictions of the stone have more solidity and depth than Thon’s, enhanced by the stark contrasts between light and shade created by dramatic, raking illumination. (fig. 8.5) The lighting and intimacy of the space, captured at a particular moment in time, give his work a mysterious quality and deep emotional resonance that is reinforced by the human presence subtly suggested in the draglines that stretch from the upper corners of the canvas. In other renderings of the quarries and coastlines of Maine, such as Shore Study, Folinsbee approaches Thon’s near-abstraction and dissolution of form, but he never completely sheds his solid sense of place. (see fig. 8.1) The time spent painting with Thon in Maine during the summer affected Folinsbee’s Pennsylvania landscapes, as well, for a brief period in the early 1950s. In works as such as River Wall, Hazelton Brickyard, and Riverbank, Bucks County (fig. 8.6), Folinsbee used thin, staccato brushstrokes reminiscent of Thon’s swift slashes of charcoal, and emulated the other artist’s use of heavy black outlines to further flatten the pictorial space. But as usual in his interactions with other artists, Folinsbee did not mimic Thon’s style—he studied aspects of it that he

admired, and then gradually integrated them into his own approach without losing his unique, individual vision.

In addition to Maine’s quarries and wharves, what particularly interested Folinsbee during this period was the state’s rugged coastline, particularly as seen from the shore, looking out over the wind-tossed waves of the bay. These were subjects that other artists before him had painted—most famously George Bellows, Robert Henri, Edward Willis Redfield, and Winslow Homer—and Folinsbee certainly had them in mind when he began to investigate the pictorial potential of Maine’s craggy shores in his own work. In some of these canvases, such as Indian Point (fig. 8.7), named for a feature of the coastal terrain near Georgetown, he takes a traditional approach, using the land formations to frame a panoramic view of the water and shoreline. Although the waves and rocks are rough, this work has a generally picturesque effect.

More interesting are Folinsbee’s studies of the coastline that take washed-up rocks and other marine detritus as their primary focus. These tend to be smaller works whose more intimate viewpoints enhance their overall emotional force. Jagged rocks and bleached driftwood acquire a unique sculptural solidity in canvases like Indian Head, and Off the Rocks (fig. 8.8), and the emphasis on the formal properties and rhythmic shapes of the landmasses recall the artist’s powerful quarry paintings from the mid-1930s.

These smaller paintings recall Marsden Hartley’s renderings of the Maine shoreline from the 1930s, as well as B.J.O. Nordfeldt’s explorations of form in the 1950s.36 However, Folinsbee shied away from the level of abstraction and symbolism characteristic of their work. His studies of stacked and twisted branches on the beach at Indian Point are similar in effect to Nordfeldt’s renderings, but he maintains a greater sense of pictorial space and objectivity than that evoked by the Nordic artist’s flattened shapes and decorative patterning.

More powerful still are the paintings Folinsbee made following his purchase in 1952 of an old lobster boat, which he appropriately named Sketch. (fig. 8.9) That year he had won the Palmer Marine Prize at the National Academy’s 127th Annual Exhibition—one of the last major awards from a national venue that he would ever receive—for Off Seguin (Ellingwood Rock) (plate 57). The canvas depicts a grouping of rocks off Seguin Island, a small body of land with a Coast Guard station and lighthouse that stands at the mouth of the Kennebec River, five miles off shore. Seguin was a popular family summer boat trip destination, and is featured in many of Folinsbee’s paintings from the mid1950s on. After receiving the award, Folinsbee remarked, “Now that I’ve won

124

fig. 8.7

fig. 8.8

Figure 8.7 Indian Point, 1950. John F. Folinsbee Art Trust.

Figure 8.8 Off the Rocks, 1950s. John F. Folinsbee Art Trust.

125

fig. 8.4

fig. 8.5

fig. 8.6

Figure 8.4 William Thon, Quarry, ca. 1952, watercolor and perhaps India ink on paper, 27 1/2 x 41 inches (69.9 x 104.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, New York: Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 53.144. © Portland Museum of Art, Maine. All rights reserved.

Figure 8.5 Quarry, ca. 1950s. John F. Folinsbee Art Trust.

Figure 8.6 Riverbank, Bucks County, 1956.

Private collection.

F OLINSBEE C ONSIDERED

M A INE

Among their favorite spots were region’s abandoned quarries, particularly Long Cove Quarry in Tenants Harbor. They were captivated by the dramatic verticals and faceted surfaces of the rocks, and the rich tonal variations in the stone and quarry pools. The ways the friends portrayed these elements in their final paintings, however, reveal distinct artistic visions and personal means of expression. Thon produced ethereal renderings of the quarry primarily in ink and watercolor, creating dense, built-up surfaces with successive layers of wash to convey the sculptural forms of the rocks and trees lining the site. (fig. 8.4) Flattened pictorial space and a sense of timelessness and universality emphasize the planar structure of the quarries in these works. Folinsbee also focused on the architectural qualities of the rock face as it rose from the still surface of the quarry pool, which he painted in rich jewel tones of emerald and aquamarine. But his depictions of the stone have more solidity and depth than Thon’s, enhanced by the stark contrasts between light and shade created by dramatic, raking illumination. (fig. 8.5) The lighting and intimacy of the space, captured at a particular moment in time, give his work a mysterious quality and deep emotional resonance that is reinforced by the human presence subtly suggested in the draglines that stretch from the upper corners of the canvas. In other renderings of the quarries and coastlines of Maine, such as Shore Study, Folinsbee approaches Thon’s near-abstraction and dissolution of form, but he never completely sheds his solid sense of place. (see fig. 8.1) The time spent painting with Thon in Maine during the summer affected Folinsbee’s Pennsylvania landscapes, as well, for a brief period in the early 1950s. In works as such as River Wall, Hazelton Brickyard, and Riverbank, Bucks County (fig. 8.6), Folinsbee used thin, staccato brushstrokes reminiscent of Thon’s swift slashes of charcoal, and emulated the other artist’s use of heavy black outlines to further flatten the pictorial space. But as usual in his interactions with other artists, Folinsbee did not mimic Thon’s style—he studied aspects of it that he

admired, and then gradually integrated them into his own approach without losing his unique, individual vision.

In addition to Maine’s quarries and wharves, what particularly interested Folinsbee during this period was the state’s rugged coastline, particularly as seen from the shore, looking out over the wind-tossed waves of the bay. These were subjects that other artists before him had painted—most famously George Bellows, Robert Henri, Edward Willis Redfield, and Winslow Homer—and Folinsbee certainly had them in mind when he began to investigate the pictorial potential of Maine’s craggy shores in his own work. In some of these canvases, such as Indian Point (fig. 8.7), named for a feature of the coastal terrain near Georgetown, he takes a traditional approach, using the land formations to frame a panoramic view of the water and shoreline. Although the waves and rocks are rough, this work has a generally picturesque effect.

More interesting are Folinsbee’s studies of the coastline that take washed-up rocks and other marine detritus as their primary focus. These tend to be smaller works whose more intimate viewpoints enhance their overall emotional force. Jagged rocks and bleached driftwood acquire a unique sculptural solidity in canvases like Indian Head, and Off the Rocks (fig. 8.8), and the emphasis on the formal properties and rhythmic shapes of the landmasses recall the artist’s powerful quarry paintings from the mid-1930s.

These smaller paintings recall Marsden Hartley’s renderings of the Maine shoreline from the 1930s, as well as B.J.O. Nordfeldt’s explorations of form in the 1950s.36 However, Folinsbee shied away from the level of abstraction and symbolism characteristic of their work. His studies of stacked and twisted branches on the beach at Indian Point are similar in effect to Nordfeldt’s renderings, but he maintains a greater sense of pictorial space and objectivity than that evoked by the Nordic artist’s flattened shapes and decorative patterning.

More powerful still are the paintings Folinsbee made following his purchase in 1952 of an old lobster boat, which he appropriately named Sketch. (fig. 8.9) That year he had won the Palmer Marine Prize at the National Academy’s 127th Annual Exhibition—one of the last major awards from a national venue that he would ever receive—for Off Seguin (Ellingwood Rock) (plate 57). The canvas depicts a grouping of rocks off Seguin Island, a small body of land with a Coast Guard station and lighthouse that stands at the mouth of the Kennebec River, five miles off shore. Seguin was a popular family summer boat trip destination, and is featured in many of Folinsbee’s paintings from the mid1950s on. After receiving the award, Folinsbee remarked, “Now that I’ve won

124

fig. 8.7

fig. 8.8

Figure 8.7 Indian Point, 1950. John F. Folinsbee Art Trust.

Figure 8.8 Off the Rocks, 1950s. John F. Folinsbee Art Trust.

125

178

179

178

179

F OLINSBEE C ONSIDERED

ultimate objective remained grounded in the formal properties of painting. The intersection of the bridge and river in the left middle ground provides a central axis for the image that is galvanized by the fluid, vortex-like swoop of the funeral procession.

182

Frozen Canal

1921 Oil on canvas 24 x 30 in. (60.96 x 76.2 cm) Signed lower right: John F. Folinsbee Current location unknown Provenance/Ownership History Sold from the Philadelphia Arts Club exhibition to Judge Alex Simpson Exhibition History 1922 Concord Art Assn 1922 Ferargil: Paintings by John Folinsbee, no. 6 1922 Newport: Annual Exhibition of American Painting 1922–23 PAC: Annual Exhibition 1923 PAC: Annual Exhibition Published References Bowdoin 1922: “John Folinsbee Shows New Oils at the Ferargil” NY Evening Post 1922: “Characteristics of Folinsbee’s Art” Price 1923: “Folinsbee of Golden Song,” p. 426, b/w ill.

Folk 1984: The Pennsylvania Impressionists, color plate 40 977

Midwinter

Artists November 1925-January 1926, John Folinsbee, Midwinter, $1500; Corcoran Gallery of Art, 9th Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings, John Folinsbee, Midwinter; Budworth label; Concord Art Association, 7th Annual Exhibition, 1923, Midwinter, John Folinsbee Folinsbee 1912–20s stockbook: pp. [41], 180 Private collection Provenance /Ownership History Ruth Baldwin Folinsbee Private collection Exhibition History 1922 Carnegie: 21st International Exhibition of Paintings 1923 Concord Art Assn: Seventh Annual Exhibition 1923 PAFA: 118th Annual Exhibition, no. 279, ill.

1923–24 Corcoran: 9th Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings, no. 239, as MidWinter 1924 Albright-Knox Buffalo: 18th Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, no. 84 1924 Rochester: Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings 1925–26 Brooklyn Museum: Exhibition of Paintings in Oil by American and European Artists 1212

Golden Morning

24 x 30 in. (60.96 x 76.2 cm) Signed lower right: John F. Folinsbee Private collection Catalogue image: Copyright 2005 John Bigelow Taylor Exhibition History 1925 Ferargil: Paintings by John Folinsbee 2008 Ogunquit: Pennsylvania Impressionists 2010–11 Woodmere: John Folinsbee and American Modernism Published References Clipping 1925: “John Folinsbee” Commentary In the early 1920s, Folinsbee began to broaden his chromatic range and explore the possibilities of bright, unfiltered light on the landscape.

Critics noticed the change. The New York Tribune remarked upon the “new gust of energy” evident in his winter scenes, and the New York Times noted his use of higher-keyed color.1 Though Folinsbee does not appear to have exhibited Coal Yard—perhaps having viewed it primarily as an experiment in using color as an element of design—its brilliant light and sparkling palette would have made it a successful addition to his exhibitions at Ferargil Galleries in the early 1920s.

1. New York Tribune, March 5, 1922; New York American, January 27, 1924; untitled clippings Folinsbee clipping album, John F. Folinsbee Art Trust.

337

In Shad Season

1922 Oil on canvas 16 x 20 in. (40.64 x 50.8 cm) Folinsbee 1912–20s stockbook: pp. 43, 180 Current location unknown Provenance /Ownership History Sold January 1923 from the Art Alliance Association exhibition Exhibition History 1922 Ferargil: Paintings by John Folinsbee, no. 14 1923 Philadelphia Published References NY Times 1922: “John Folinsbee” 585

Coal Yard

Alternate title(s): Mid-Winter 1921–22 Oil on canvas 32 x 40 in. (81.28 x 101.6 cm) Signed lower right: John F. Folinsbee; labels affixed to middle stretcher: Brooklyn Museum of Art, Exhibition of Oil Paintings by American

C A T A LO G U E O F M A J OR L A NDS C A P E A ND G ENRE P A IN T IN G S

1922 Oil on canvas

238

no. 92 1923 AIC: 34th Annual Exhibition of American Paintings, no. 73 1923 Carnegie: 22nd International Exhibition of Paintings 1923 Ferargil: Paintings by John Folinsbee, no. 1 1923 National Arts: 25th Exhibition, no. 12 1924 Albright-Knox Buffalo: 18th Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, no. 86 1924 JHAI: 39th Annual Exhibition of Paintings by Contemporary American Artists 1924 Rochester: Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings 1925 Vanderbilt Musical Foundation 1927 Wadsworth Atheneum: Loan Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture Published References Clipping 1923: “Folinsbee and Newell” Hartford Courant 1927: “From an Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture,” b/w ill.

Maine Antiques 2011: “In Shad Season on the Banks of the Detroit River”

Published References Clipping 1923: “Folinsbee and Newell”

Commentary The “heavy texture” and “grey tonality” that Folinsbee’s logbook attributes to In Shad Season create a spring scene with atmospheric effects similar to those more common in his winter canvases. Still, his interest in brighter colors is evident in the vibrant greens that balance the overall tonality. The view is from the Lambertville side of the river, with the New Hope Mills (later the Bucks County Playhouse) in the distance. In Shad Season is Folinsbee’s first known painting of the annual shad harvest along the Delaware, and because he painted the event regularly throughout his career, it is possible to trace the entire arc of his stylistic transformation by looking only at his renderings of the subject.

1361

1125

Northport Docks (The Dock, Northport)

Commentary Before he became so closely associated with New Hope, Folinsbee was one of many artists who regularly traveled up the coast from metropolitan New York to Gloucester, Massachusetts, and Maine. This painting is believed to be Northport Docks (The Dock, Northport), which was included in a loan exhibition at the Wadsworth Atheneum, and later in the annual Exhibition of American Painting of the Association of Newport, from which it was sold. Like most of Folinsbee’s early, large-scale paintings with Gloucester or Maine subjects, Northport Docks has not been located, but his sketches of similar wharf scenes suggest that this landscape likely placed less emphasis on atmospheric effects, and more on bright light and high-keyed color.

Peach Trees in Winter

c. 1922–23 Oil on canvas 16 x 20 in. (40.64 x 50.8 cm) Signed lower right: John F. Folinsbee Original Badura frame Folinsbee 1912–20s stockbook Private collection Exhibition History 1923 Ferargil: Paintings by John Folinsbee, no. 16

Corn Shocks in Winter

1922 Oil on canvas 32 x 40 in. (81.28 x 101.6 cm) Folinsbee 1912–20s stockbook: p. 43 Current location unknown Provenance /Ownership History [Mr.] Sellers, purchase from the Newport Art Association, August 1923 ($1000) Current location unknown Exhibition History 1923 Newport: Annual Exhibition of American Painting 1923 Wadsworth: Loan Exhibition of Modern Paintings, no. 17, lent by Ferargil Galleries

Commentary Corn Shocks in Winter was painted at approximately the same time as Coal Yard, and although it is more reserved in color, it similarly reflects the shift Folinsbee’s palette was undergoing during that period. Close inspection of the snow reveals a broad spectrum of purples, blues, oranges, pinks, and yellows glistening in the bright afternoon sun. Folinsbee returned to the site frequently to capture the seasonal changes in the landscape; here he explores the quality of reflected light and shadow in a manner reminiscent of Monet’s grainstack series.

970

440

1921–22 Oil on canvas 31 x 39 in. (78.74 x 99.06 cm) Signed lower right: John F. Folinsbee; inscribed in ink on stretcher, “In Shad Season” Grand Central Art Gallery (Painters & Sculptors Gallery Association) label affixed to stretcher Folinsbee 1912–20s stockbook: pp. 139, 141; p.

[163] sketch Plymouth Meeting Gallery Provenance /Ownership History Sold by Grand Central Art Galleries, January 1929 Collection of Herman and Carrie Wiener, Toledo, Ohio (c. 1940) DuMouchelles Auction House (Detroit), 9/18/2011, lot 2010 Plymouth Meeting Gallery, 2010 Exhibition History 1922 Corcoran: Summer Exhibition of Pennsylvania Painters 1922 NAD Winter: 97th Annual Exhibition (Winter),

Private collection Exhibition History 1923 Ferargil: Paintings by John Folinsbee, no. 8 1923 NAD Winter: 98th Annual Exhibition (Winter), no. 364 1923 Portland: Summer Show 1923 Springfield Art League MA 1924 Albright-Knox Buffalo: 18th Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, no. 85 1924 Rochester: Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings 1924 Salmagundi: Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings, no. 103 1926 Philadelphia 1976 Gunnery School: Paintings, Drawings, and Lithographs by John Folinsbee, no. 3 Published References Clipping 1923: “Folinsbee and Newell”

1922–23 Oil on canvas 24 x 30 in. (60.96 x 76.2 cm) Folinsbee 1912–20s stockbook: p. 141 Folinsbee 1920s–40s stockbook: n.p.

Private collection Provenance /Ownership History Private collection, Newport, Rhode Island; by descent in the family Richard King Fine Art, Newport, Rhode Island

239

Ice Covered Canal

1922–23 Oil on canvas 16 x 20 in. (40.64 x 50.8 cm) Signed lower right: John F. Folinsbee Folinsbee 1912–20s stockbook: p. 46 Folinsbee 1920s–40s stockbook: p. [135] sketch Plymouth Meeting Gallery Provenance /Ownership History Arthur Vicary (Mrs), Erie, Pennsylvania, May 1924 (purchased from the Erie Women’s Club), and by descent in the family Aspire Auctions, Cleveland, 5/20/2011, lot 60 Plymouth Meeting Gallery Exhibition History 1924 Erie 1924 Ferargil: Paintings by John Folinsbee

F OLINSBEE C ONSIDERED

ultimate objective remained grounded in the formal properties of painting. The intersection of the bridge and river in the left middle ground provides a central axis for the image that is galvanized by the fluid, vortex-like swoop of the funeral procession.

182

Frozen Canal

1921 Oil on canvas 24 x 30 in. (60.96 x 76.2 cm) Signed lower right: John F. Folinsbee Current location unknown Provenance/Ownership History Sold from the Philadelphia Arts Club exhibition to Judge Alex Simpson Exhibition History 1922 Concord Art Assn 1922 Ferargil: Paintings by John Folinsbee, no. 6 1922 Newport: Annual Exhibition of American Painting 1922–23 PAC: Annual Exhibition 1923 PAC: Annual Exhibition Published References Bowdoin 1922: “John Folinsbee Shows New Oils at the Ferargil” NY Evening Post 1922: “Characteristics of Folinsbee’s Art” Price 1923: “Folinsbee of Golden Song,” p. 426, b/w ill.

Folk 1984: The Pennsylvania Impressionists, color plate 40 977

Midwinter

Artists November 1925-January 1926, John Folinsbee, Midwinter, $1500; Corcoran Gallery of Art, 9th Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings, John Folinsbee, Midwinter; Budworth label; Concord Art Association, 7th Annual Exhibition, 1923, Midwinter, John Folinsbee Folinsbee 1912–20s stockbook: pp. [41], 180 Private collection Provenance /Ownership History Ruth Baldwin Folinsbee Private collection Exhibition History 1922 Carnegie: 21st International Exhibition of Paintings 1923 Concord Art Assn: Seventh Annual Exhibition 1923 PAFA: 118th Annual Exhibition, no. 279, ill.

1923–24 Corcoran: 9th Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings, no. 239, as MidWinter 1924 Albright-Knox Buffalo: 18th Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, no. 84 1924 Rochester: Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings 1925–26 Brooklyn Museum: Exhibition of Paintings in Oil by American and European Artists 1212

Golden Morning

24 x 30 in. (60.96 x 76.2 cm) Signed lower right: John F. Folinsbee Private collection Catalogue image: Copyright 2005 John Bigelow Taylor Exhibition History 1925 Ferargil: Paintings by John Folinsbee 2008 Ogunquit: Pennsylvania Impressionists 2010–11 Woodmere: John Folinsbee and American Modernism Published References Clipping 1925: “John Folinsbee” Commentary In the early 1920s, Folinsbee began to broaden his chromatic range and explore the possibilities of bright, unfiltered light on the landscape.

Critics noticed the change. The New York Tribune remarked upon the “new gust of energy” evident in his winter scenes, and the New York Times noted his use of higher-keyed color.1 Though Folinsbee does not appear to have exhibited Coal Yard—perhaps having viewed it primarily as an experiment in using color as an element of design—its brilliant light and sparkling palette would have made it a successful addition to his exhibitions at Ferargil Galleries in the early 1920s.

1. New York Tribune, March 5, 1922; New York American, January 27, 1924; untitled clippings Folinsbee clipping album, John F. Folinsbee Art Trust.

337

In Shad Season

1922 Oil on canvas 16 x 20 in. (40.64 x 50.8 cm) Folinsbee 1912–20s stockbook: pp. 43, 180 Current location unknown Provenance /Ownership History Sold January 1923 from the Art Alliance Association exhibition Exhibition History 1922 Ferargil: Paintings by John Folinsbee, no. 14 1923 Philadelphia Published References NY Times 1922: “John Folinsbee” 585

Coal Yard

Alternate title(s): Mid-Winter 1921–22 Oil on canvas 32 x 40 in. (81.28 x 101.6 cm) Signed lower right: John F. Folinsbee; labels affixed to middle stretcher: Brooklyn Museum of Art, Exhibition of Oil Paintings by American

C A T A LO G U E O F M A J OR L A NDS C A P E A ND G ENRE P A IN T IN G S

1922 Oil on canvas

238

no. 92 1923 AIC: 34th Annual Exhibition of American Paintings, no. 73 1923 Carnegie: 22nd International Exhibition of Paintings 1923 Ferargil: Paintings by John Folinsbee, no. 1 1923 National Arts: 25th Exhibition, no. 12 1924 Albright-Knox Buffalo: 18th Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, no. 86 1924 JHAI: 39th Annual Exhibition of Paintings by Contemporary American Artists 1924 Rochester: Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings 1925 Vanderbilt Musical Foundation 1927 Wadsworth Atheneum: Loan Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture Published References Clipping 1923: “Folinsbee and Newell” Hartford Courant 1927: “From an Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture,” b/w ill.

Maine Antiques 2011: “In Shad Season on the Banks of the Detroit River”

Published References Clipping 1923: “Folinsbee and Newell”

Commentary The “heavy texture” and “grey tonality” that Folinsbee’s logbook attributes to In Shad Season create a spring scene with atmospheric effects similar to those more common in his winter canvases. Still, his interest in brighter colors is evident in the vibrant greens that balance the overall tonality. The view is from the Lambertville side of the river, with the New Hope Mills (later the Bucks County Playhouse) in the distance. In Shad Season is Folinsbee’s first known painting of the annual shad harvest along the Delaware, and because he painted the event regularly throughout his career, it is possible to trace the entire arc of his stylistic transformation by looking only at his renderings of the subject.

1361

1125

Northport Docks (The Dock, Northport)

Commentary Before he became so closely associated with New Hope, Folinsbee was one of many artists who regularly traveled up the coast from metropolitan New York to Gloucester, Massachusetts, and Maine. This painting is believed to be Northport Docks (The Dock, Northport), which was included in a loan exhibition at the Wadsworth Atheneum, and later in the annual Exhibition of American Painting of the Association of Newport, from which it was sold. Like most of Folinsbee’s early, large-scale paintings with Gloucester or Maine subjects, Northport Docks has not been located, but his sketches of similar wharf scenes suggest that this landscape likely placed less emphasis on atmospheric effects, and more on bright light and high-keyed color.

Peach Trees in Winter

c. 1922–23 Oil on canvas 16 x 20 in. (40.64 x 50.8 cm) Signed lower right: John F. Folinsbee Original Badura frame Folinsbee 1912–20s stockbook Private collection Exhibition History 1923 Ferargil: Paintings by John Folinsbee, no. 16

Corn Shocks in Winter

1922 Oil on canvas 32 x 40 in. (81.28 x 101.6 cm) Folinsbee 1912–20s stockbook: p. 43 Current location unknown Provenance /Ownership History [Mr.] Sellers, purchase from the Newport Art Association, August 1923 ($1000) Current location unknown Exhibition History 1923 Newport: Annual Exhibition of American Painting 1923 Wadsworth: Loan Exhibition of Modern Paintings, no. 17, lent by Ferargil Galleries

Commentary Corn Shocks in Winter was painted at approximately the same time as Coal Yard, and although it is more reserved in color, it similarly reflects the shift Folinsbee’s palette was undergoing during that period. Close inspection of the snow reveals a broad spectrum of purples, blues, oranges, pinks, and yellows glistening in the bright afternoon sun. Folinsbee returned to the site frequently to capture the seasonal changes in the landscape; here he explores the quality of reflected light and shadow in a manner reminiscent of Monet’s grainstack series.

970

440

1921–22 Oil on canvas 31 x 39 in. (78.74 x 99.06 cm) Signed lower right: John F. Folinsbee; inscribed in ink on stretcher, “In Shad Season” Grand Central Art Gallery (Painters & Sculptors Gallery Association) label affixed to stretcher Folinsbee 1912–20s stockbook: pp. 139, 141; p.

[163] sketch Plymouth Meeting Gallery Provenance /Ownership History Sold by Grand Central Art Galleries, January 1929 Collection of Herman and Carrie Wiener, Toledo, Ohio (c. 1940) DuMouchelles Auction House (Detroit), 9/18/2011, lot 2010 Plymouth Meeting Gallery, 2010 Exhibition History 1922 Corcoran: Summer Exhibition of Pennsylvania Painters 1922 NAD Winter: 97th Annual Exhibition (Winter),

Private collection Exhibition History 1923 Ferargil: Paintings by John Folinsbee, no. 8 1923 NAD Winter: 98th Annual Exhibition (Winter), no. 364 1923 Portland: Summer Show 1923 Springfield Art League MA 1924 Albright-Knox Buffalo: 18th Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists, no. 85 1924 Rochester: Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings 1924 Salmagundi: Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings, no. 103 1926 Philadelphia 1976 Gunnery School: Paintings, Drawings, and Lithographs by John Folinsbee, no. 3 Published References Clipping 1923: “Folinsbee and Newell”

1922–23 Oil on canvas 24 x 30 in. (60.96 x 76.2 cm) Folinsbee 1912–20s stockbook: p. 141 Folinsbee 1920s–40s stockbook: n.p.

Private collection Provenance /Ownership History Private collection, Newport, Rhode Island; by descent in the family Richard King Fine Art, Newport, Rhode Island

239

Ice Covered Canal

1922–23 Oil on canvas 16 x 20 in. (40.64 x 50.8 cm) Signed lower right: John F. Folinsbee Folinsbee 1912–20s stockbook: p. 46 Folinsbee 1920s–40s stockbook: p. [135] sketch Plymouth Meeting Gallery Provenance /Ownership History Arthur Vicary (Mrs), Erie, Pennsylvania, May 1924 (purchased from the Erie Women’s Club), and by descent in the family Aspire Auctions, Cleveland, 5/20/2011, lot 60 Plymouth Meeting Gallery Exhibition History 1924 Erie 1924 Ferargil: Paintings by John Folinsbee