"The Sisters," Edmund C.
Tarbell, 1921. From the collection of the Carolina Art
Association/Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, S.C.
Impressionism Transformed:
MANCHESTER, N.H. - A nationally admired American Impressionist,
Edmund C. Tarbell was renowned for his refined and distinctly New
England interiors as well as vibrant outdoor paintings of his
family. A member of Boston's Tavern and St Botolph's clubs,
Tarbell was also known to join a game of scrub baseball with
workers from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. He led two of the
most prestigious art schools in the Northeast - yet, he got
himself expelled from high school to avoid college, so he could
paint full-time.
Growing up in Boston, living for 30 years in New Castle, N.H.,
Tarbell (1862-1938) was a quintessential Yankee; cultured and
unpretentious. Tarbell's art reflected his character - he
remained committed to time-honored techniques and craftsmanship
while creating his own innovations in depicting light and modern
life on canvas.
On February 14, the Delaware Art Museum will open the most
important display of paintings by Tarbell since his death in
1938. The Currier Gallery of Art in Manchester, N.H. has
organized "Impressionism Transformed: The Paintings of Edmund C.
Tarbell" and published the accompanying exhibition catalogue, a
fully illustrated, 172-page book (available for $29.95) with
essays by Linda J. Doherty, associate professor of art history at
Bowdoin College; Erica E. Hirshler, Croll Senior Curator of
American Paintings, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and Currier
director Susan Strickler. The catalogue is distributed through
University Press of New England.
The exhibition includes 42 paintings - many recently rediscovered
and on view for the first time in half a century - and features
Tarbell's little-known early works, the outdoor scenes that
established his reputation, the domestic interiors for which he
is best known today, and a selection of portraits, equestrian
subjects and still lifes.
Works on view are from the collections of the National Gallery of
Art; the Corcoran Gallery of Art; the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston; the Worcester Art Museum; and the Pennsylvania Academy of
the Fine Arts, among other museums and private collections.
"Breakfast on the Piazza," Edmund C. Tarbell, 1902. Private
collection.
The catalog, titled Impressionism Transformed,
incorporates an especially intimate focus on Tarbell's personal
life and family.
"The timing of this project was fortunate. The families of both
Edmund and his wife, Emeline Souther Tarbell, graciously offered
a rich resource of letters, diaries and photographs. These, along
with the personal recollections of their grandchildren, have
added to the collective understanding of the artist and his
work," says Strickler. "Edmund Tarbell deserves a place of honor,
both nationally and in New England, a region with a deep, rich
cultural heritage."
The exhibition, which began its tour at the Currier Gallery of
Art in 2001, is on view through April 28 in Wilmington, and will
travel to the Terra Museum of American Art in Chicago May 11 to
July 21.
Tarbell was born in West Groton, Mass., and raised in Boston by
his paternal grandparents. After grammar school, he became an
apprentice at a lithographic company before entering the Museum
School (The School of Drawing and Painting of the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston).
Four years later, he traveled to Europe to continue his training
at the Académie Julian in Paris. He returned to Boston to
co-direct the Museum School from 1890 to 1912 with his friend
Frank W. Benson.
Tarbell soon gained a national reputation as both an influential
teacher and an accomplished painter. From 1918 to 1925, he served
as principal of the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C.,
after which he retired to his summer home in New Castle, N.H.,
where he painted until his death.
"Girls Reading," Edmund C. Tarbell, 1907. Shein collection.
Tarbell was a founding member of "The Ten American Painters," a
group of leading impressionists from Boston and New York, that
also included Childe Hassam, William Merritt Chase and Frank W.
Benson. With these colleagues, Tarbell exhibited in prestigious
expositions and exhibitions sponsored by major museums across the
country, including: the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Corcoran
Gallery of Art, Washington; the Art Institute of Chicago; and the
Saint Louis Art Museum.
The end of his career was eclipsed by the rise of abstract art
and social realism, but recent studies reassessing American
Impressionism, the Colonial Revival and the Arts and Crafts
Movement have led to Tarbell's reemergence as an important figure
in turn-of-the-century art.
The Delaware Art Museum is at 2301 Kentmere Parkway. Hours are
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 9 am to 4 pm; Wednesday: 9
am to 9 pm; and Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm. For information,
302/571-9590.
Tarbell - 1
