The Chrysler Museum Shows American Masterpieces From The Batten Collection

Written by Charles Wentworth Tuesday, 12 July 2011 23:06

Norfolk, VA. - The Chrysler Museum is proud to present "American Masterpieces From The Batten Collection". Jane and the late Frank Batten, Sr. collected paintings for many years. The beautiful group of pictures they assembled reflects their deep love for America, its scenery, and its people, as well as their passion for sailing. These paintings by Winslow Homer, George Wesley Bellows, Thomas Hart Benton, Albert Bierstadt, William James Glackens, James Buttersworth, and Edward Willis Redfield are on extended loan as promised gifts to the Chrysler. Each work dramatically enriches the range and depth of their already important collection of American paintings.

The Batten’s promised gift brings to the Chrysler a group of beautiful pictures that are remarkable in their own right and which perfectly compliment the Museum’s already strong holdings in American Art. The works start with the handsome view of "Minnehaha Falls" by Albert Bierstadt. Bierstadt (1830 - 1902) was a key figure in encouraging Americans to appreciate the beauty of our varied national landscape. He is particularly celebrated for his huge and dramatic views of the American West. George Bellows (1882-1925), Edward Redfield (1869-1965), and William Glackens (1870-1938) also take the American landscape as their subject, each selecting a scene and style that suits their artistic personality.


Bellows, best known for his powerful depictions of boxers and gritty urban scenes, here shows us a New York farm where he often spent the weekend. With rough gestural strokes he captures the wonderful moment when winter fades into spring. Redfield devoted nearly his entire artistic career to the rolling countryside of Bucks County, Pennsylvania along the Delaware River. He particularly relished the challenge of bringing life to winter scenes. Often in his quest to capture the exact light and detail of a scene, he set up his easel in the snow. One of America’s greatest painters, Winslow Homer (1836-1910), is represented by two charming and intimate works each showing a single figure in a private moment of contemplation. In one, a young woman has paused to pluck a good-luck four-leaf clover. In the second, a farmer pauses at the end of his day, the warm afternoon sun on his back, to gaze across a recently harvested field. Things don’t seem to be going quite as well for the picnickers in Thomas Hart Benton’s (1889-1975) painting. In this and all his work, the artist has a remarkable ability to endow trees, rocks, and plants with enormous energy and personality. Here a tree almost seems to be reaching out deliberately to grab the unlucky girl. Finally, don’t miss the two extraordinary pictures by marine artist James Buttersworth (1817-1894). His meticulously observed portraits of 19th century racing yachts in full sail are a perfect blend of historical detail and fluid grace.

The history of the Chrysler Museum starts with more than a century of hard work and dedication by many, many residents of Hampton Roads who believed in the civic virtue of art and art education. Those rewarding efforts moved to an entirely different level 40 years ago, with what is now considered one of strongest and most varied gifts ever made in American history to a single museum by a single person. Walter Chrysler, Jr., scion of the automotive company founder, donated nearly 10,000 objects as part of an arrangement where the Norfolk Academy of Arts and Sciences became the Chrysler Museum of Art. The story of his gift goes far beyond the sheer numbers. It’s what his collection contained that remains breathtaking to this day. A late, legendary New York Times art critic called Chrysler the most underrated American collector of his time, and it’s easy to see why. As a young man he met the top avant-garde artists of Paris (including Pablo Picasso) and was soon purchasing works by them all. He spent his summers in American artist colonies, and bought works from many future art stars well before they way famous. He was known for buying against fashion, as he had confidence that the special qualities he saw in various pieces would gain acceptance later. Perhaps what’s most remarkable is the almost impossible-to-define sense of knowing which one to buy.


Chrysler’s contributions to this Museum are no doubt monumental, but there are many other people who have made valuable contributions, and the history of the Chrysler is their story, too. Walter Chrysler chaired the Museum Board of Trustees until 1984, and he died in 1988 after a long battle with cancer. In the history of the Museum, donations from collectors such as Edgar and Bernice Chrysler Garbish, Emile Wolf, Goldsborough Serpell, Erwin and Adrianne Joseph and the family of Joel  Cooper have dramatically enriched the Museum’s collection. Members of the Mowbray Arch Society have contributed great works to the Chrysler, and the Norfolk Society of Arts remains active to this day. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.chrysler.org

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