Thomas Hart Benton, the leading figure in the American Scene movement, celebrated the virtues and lives of people in the Midwest and, here, a stalwart rural postman in "New England RFD Carrier,” circa 1923.
:Drivers whizzing by on the New York State Thruway in central New York are familiar with the iconic Beech-Nut sign that crowns this quiet little village. Until recently, at least, few were aware that Canajoharie boasts a remarkable collection of American art.
Since 1927 it has been housed in the Canajoharie Library and Art Center, established by Bartlett Arkell, founder and first president of the Beech-Nut Packing Company and art collector extraordinaire. Working with Macbeth Gallery in New York, Arkell assembled an outstanding trove of work by Gilbert Stuart, Winslow Homer, George Inness, John Singer Sargent, William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, John H. Twachtman, Maurice Prendergast, Mary Cassatt, Gari Melchers, Frederic Remington, Robert Henri, Grandma Moses, Georgia O'Keeffe and many others.
At the outset, Arkell also commissioned copies of European paintings in an effort to bring masterworks to Canajoharie. Museum officials estimate that the more than 500 works of art are worth $500 million.
Housed for years in cramped quarters, the Beech-Nut magnate's collection is now displayed in the splendid new Arkell Museum, which doubled the available space and provides all of the amenities of a modern art museum. The 36,000-square-foot, $10 million Arkell Museum opened late last year.
Lit at night, the exterior of the new museum looks like a dramatic series of glowing boxes to travelers on the New York State Thruway. —©Jonathan Hillyer photo, 2007
Designed by Boston-based designLAB architects, the contemporary new building is a felicitous blend of glass and gleaming white glazed brick that resonates with the white concrete frame and crisp geometry of the still active Beech-Nut factory across the street. The new complex blends 18,000 square feet of renovated space in the old, gambrel-roofed gallery and library, while adding 18,000 square feet of new gallery and museum space, office and educational quarters, a new Great Hall for gatherings and presentations and interactive exhibits that include creating advertisements from paintings in the galleries and displaying artifacts from the Mohawk River Valley's historic past.
As museum director Eric Trahan observes, the new building "is a catalyst that greatly expands the services that can be provided to museum visitors," noting new space for displays of the permanent collection and loan exhibitions and "greatly expanded educational programs for all audiences."
Highlights of the permanent collection are 21 works by Winslow Homer (1836–1910), purchased by Arkell between 1930 and 1944 from Macbeth Gallery. According to the museum's deputy director and chief curator, Diane Forsberg, the "Homer collection is known to art scholars and an international audience of museumgoers."
