Capturing Beauty: American Impressionist and Realist Paintings from the McGlothlin Collection

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Capturing Beauty: American Impressionist and Realist Paintings from the McGlothlin Collection

May 19 - September 18, 2005

(above: "Portrait of Ambrogio Raffele," circa early 1900s, by John Singer Sargent (American, 1856-1925), watercolor over graphite on paper, 20 x 14 inches. It is from the collection of James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin. Photo by Katherine Wetzel, © 2005 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)

Capturing Beauty: American Impressionist and Realist Paintings from the McGlothlin Collection, opening Thursday, May 19, 2005 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, will showcase works from one of the largest holdings of 19th- and 20th-century American paintings still in private hands, according to VMFA Director Dr. Michael Brand. (right: Dr. Michael Brand, Director, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo © 2000 Mike Curtin)

Mr. and Mrs. James W. McGlothlin of Austin, Texas, assembled their collection over the past decade. Mrs. McGlothlin has been a VMFA trustee since 1998.

Among the 35 paintings, watercolors, pastels and sculptures in the exhibition will be works by some of the nation's leading artists.

"Breath-taking Impressionist works by Mary Cassatt, Childe Hassam and John Singer Sargent join forces with powerful Realist pictures by George Bellows, Winslow Homer and Robert Henri," Dr. Brand says.

One of the most important paintings on view will be Martin Johnson Heade's "Two Magnolias and a Bud on Teal Velvet" (1885-95). It is from the well-known series of magnolia studies created by Heade in an era when his Victorian audience was versed in the "language" of flowers. Magnolia grandiflora symbolized feminine charm, self-esteem and -- a connotation still popular in the South -- hospitality. A similar Heade painting, "Giant Magnolias on Blue Velvet" circa 1890), now in the National Gallery of Art collection, is featured on a U.S. first-class postage stamp.

Dr. David Park Curry, VMFA's curator of American arts, says "unexpected gems -- a seductive sketch by William Merritt Chase, a subtle seascape by James McNeill Whistler, an evocative interior by William McGregor Paxton -- will add luster to the show."

"A sparkling watercolor by Maurice Prendergast radiates the energy with which Mr. and Mrs. McGlothlin have exercised their passion for collecting since the mid-1990s," Dr. Brand says.

"Their recently acquired Sargent oil portrait of Mme. Eugenia Errazuriz, one of the great beauties of the late 19th century, attests to their own love of the beautiful in American art. Now to be shared for the first time with visitors to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the American Impressionist and Realist pictures in the exhibition will invite repeated discovery." (left: Dr. David Park Curry, Curator of American Arts, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo © 2001 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)

Two-thirds of the pictures to be on view were painted in the United States. Expatriate Americans working in England, France, Italy and Spain created the rest.

(above: "Two Magnolias and a Bud on Teal Velvet," circa 1885-95, by Martin Johnson Heade (American, 1819-1904), oil on canvas, 15 x 24 inches. It is from the collection of James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin)

A fully illustrated 88-page exhibition catalog will include 34 entries by Curry and an introduction by Dr. Theodore E. Stebbins Jr., curator of American art at the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University.

The exhibition catalog is made possible by the Julia Louise Reynolds Fund. Admission to "Capturing Beauty" will be free through funding provided by the Elisabeth Shelton Gottwald Fund and the Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Fund.

(above: "Handkerchief Point," circa 1896-97, by Maurice Prendergast (1859-1924), watercolor over graphite on paper, 13 1/2 x 9 5/8 inches. It is from the collection of James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin. Photo by Katherine Wetzel, © 2005 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)

Checklist for the exhibition

George Wesley Bellows (1882-1925)

May Day in Central Park, ca. 1905

Oil on canvas

Signed: "Bellows"

18 x 22 inches (45.7 x 55.9 cm)

Robert Frederick Blum (1857-1903)

Flora de Stephano, the artist's model, 1889

Pastel on linen

Signed and dated: "Blum - 89"

20 1/2 x 18 1/4 inches (52.1 x 46.4 cm)

Dennis Miller Bunker (1861-1890)

Larmor, 1884

Oil on canvas

Signed, dated, and inscribed: "Dennis M. Bunker -/ Lamour - 1884"

18 x 25 1/2 inches (45.7 x 64.8 cm)

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)

Lydia Seated on a Terrace, Crocheting, 1881-82 [title tentative]

Oil on canvas with tempera

Signed: "Mary Cassatt"

15 x 24 3/10 inches (38.1 x 61.6 cm)

William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)

Afternoon By the Sea, ca. 1888

Pastel on linen

Signed: "Wm. M. Chase"

20 x 30 inches (50.8 x 76.2 cm)

(right: "Afternoon By the Sea," circa 1888, by William Merritt Chase (American, 1849-1916), pastel on linen, 20 x 30 inches. It is from the collection of James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin. Photo by Katherine Wetzel, © 2005 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)

William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)

A Mandolin Player, ca. 1880

Oil on panel

10 x 7 inches (25.4 x 17.7 cm)

Frederick C. Frieseke (1874-1939)

Luxembourg Garden , 1901

Oil on canvas

Signed and dated "F. Frieseke 1901"

26 x 32 inches (66 x 81.3 cm)

Seymour Joseph Guy (1824-1910)

At the Opera, 1887

Oil on canvas

Signed and dated: "S J Guy 1887"

19 1/4 x 15 inches (48.9 x 38.1 cm)

Childe Hassam (1859-1935)

Moonlight, 1907

Oil on canvas

Signed and dated: "Hassam 1907"

Inscribed on verso: "C. H."

25 3/4 x 36 1/4 inches (65.4 x 83.8 cm)

(right: "Moonlight," 1907, by Childe Hassam (American, 1859-1935), oil on canvas, 25 3/4 x 36 1/4 inches. It is from the collection of James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin.

Childe Hassam (1859-1935)

Winter Nightfall in the City, 1889

Oil on canvas

Signed, inscribed, and dated: "Childe Hassam Paris 1889"

25 1/2 x 33 inches (64.8 x 83.8 cm)

Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904)

White Cherokee Roses in a Salamander Vase, ca. 1883-95

Oil on canvas

Signed: "M. J. Heade"

26 x 13 inches (66 x 33 cm)

Martin Johnson Heade (1819-1904)

Two Magnolias and a Bud on Teal Velvet, ca. 1885-95

Oil on canvas

Signed: "M. J. Heade"

15 x 24 inches (38.1 x 61 cm)

Robert Henri (1865-1929)

Listening Boy, 1924

Oil on canvas

Signed: "Robert Henri"

Signed and inscribed on verso: "Robert Henri 181/M Listening Boy"

24 x 20 inches (61 x 50.8 cm)

Robert Henri (1865-1929)

Miss Kaji Waki, 1909

Oil on canvas

Signed "Robert Henri"

77 x 37 inches (195.6 x 94 cm)

Robert Henri (1865-1929)

Sketchers in the Woods, 1918

Pastel on paper

Signed "R Henri"

12 1/5 x 19 4/5 inches (31.1 x 50.2 cm)

Winslow Homer (1836-1910)

By the Shore, 1870s

Oil on canvas

Signed: "HOMER"

9 1/2 x 10 inches (24.1 x 25.4 cm)

Winslow Homer (1836-1910)

Canoeing in the Adirondacks, 1892

Watercolor on paper

Signed and dated: "Homer 1892"

15 ? x 20 inches (39.4 x 50.8 cm)

Winslow Homer (1836-1910)

Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree, 1879

Oil on canvas

Signed and dated: "Homer 1879"

15 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches (39.4 x 57.2 cm)

Winslow Homer (1836-1910)

The Watch, Eastern Shore, Prout's Neck, 1894

Watercolor on paper

Signed and dated: "Homer 1894"

15 1/2 x 20 inches (39.4 x 50.8 cm)

(right: "The Watch, Eastern Shore, Prout's Neck," 1894, by Winslow Homer (American, 1836-1910), watercolor on paper, 15 1/2 x 20 inches. It is from the collection of James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin. Photo by Katherine Wetzel, © 2005 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)

William McGregor Paxton (1869-1941)

The Letter, 1908

Oil on canvas

Signed and dated: "Paxton - 1908"

30 x 25 inches (76.2 x 63.5 cm)

Maurice Prendergast (1859-1924)

Handkerchief Point, ca. 1896-97

Watercolor over graphite on paper

Signed: "Prendergast"

13 1/2 x 9 5/8 inches (34.3 x 24.4 cm)

Theodore Robinson (1852-1896)

Portrait of Madame Baudy, 1888

Oil on panel

Inscribed, signed, and dated: "To Madame Baudy/ Th. Robinson 1888"

13 x 9 1/2 inches (33 x 24.1 cm)