PROVIDENCE AS AN ART CENTER

IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

BY

EDWARD A. GIARUSSO

 

c. 1982

Published in the Rhode Island Review, Summer 1983 under the title, Reclaiming a Lost World: (Vol. 1, No. 2).   l9th Century Providence Art

 

THE ASCENDANCY

 

It is common to associate nineteenth century America with the art movement known today as the Hudson River School. The followers of this school were painting large panoramic representations of the American landscape. These tightly painted and delineated canvases reflected well the American national character, which was large, bold, full-breadth, and colorful.

 

Within the industrial growth and economic expansion of nineteenth century America, a need for artistic and cultural expression arose. The cities of New York, Boston, Chicago, and Providence produced esteemed gentlemen in whose interest it became to develop art collections representational to their standing within their communities. Notably, each city seemed partial to a style of painting. New York, for example, collected avidly the Hudson River Painters. Boston collectors were strong on portraiture and later, along with Providence, emphasized French and American Barbizon.

 

Art in the old town of Providence dates back to the eighteenth century, with the lives of Feke, Stuart, and Malbone.[1] This art production was not so much a movement locally. Rather, it was an artistic endeavor of a few men following the style of the late colonial period in America.

 

By the mid-century a marked interest in art began an ascendancy which would result ultimately in the formation of several associations of art enthusiasts.

 

The first of these groups formed the Rhode Island Art Association in 1854 for the promotion of arts and crafts.[2]   While other cities in the United States formed similar clubs and associations through private interest, Rhode Island was different. The Rhode Island Art Association was state-chartered, state-funded, and state-sponsored. This was probably the first publicly subsidized association for art in America.[3]  In fact, this association's president was the governor of Rhode Island,

William W. Hoppin.

 

The Association held its first exhibition at Westminster Hall in Providence in September, 1854. Most of the "works of art" were from Providence and Newport collectors. However, a few out-of-town galleries contributed, mostly from New York.[4]  The artists represented were generally American, and included Copley, Durand, Kensett, Cropsey, Stuart, Malbone, Allston, Hunt, and Robinson. Also, several foreign works were displayed, including those of Leutze, Poussin, Tintoretto, Gericault, and most notably, Rosa Bonheur. This assemblage led several of the artists to suggest that this was the best showing of paintings ever held in New England.[5]  The exhibition was certainly commensurate to the art exhibitions held at the Boston athenaeum at this time.

 

It is interesting to note that the exhibition displayed three periods of work. The first, the colonial work of Stuart and Copley; the second, the vogue Hudson River style of Kensett and Cropsey; and the third, the soon-to-be influential Barbizon style of Rosa Bonheur and William M. Hunt. Mr. Hunt's "Prodigal Son", was described by the Providence Daily Journal as "full of strong effects, although the flesh seems made of travertine stone".[6]  One wonders if anyone present at that time held any inkling of the importance of this style of art of which Providence soon would be the center. The Association exhibited again in 1855, but was disbanded shortly afterward for reasons unknown. However, art interest was not on the wane; in fact, several art galleries were keeping the Providence men of wealth and taste well-supplied with art work. The most notable gallery was located on Snow Street in the city and was owned by Seth M.Vose.[7]

 

Mr. Vose began to play an important part, unbeknownst to him, in the future taste of the American collector, particularly in the New England area. Seth Vose, "entering his father's business and rapidly expanding it", sold to the Providence collectors works by American artists.[8]  He also acquired a taste for the French Barbizon school of painting and avidly collected its works. How Mr. Vose became interested or knowledgeable in this style of painting remains a mystery. William M. Hunt, who is often credited with introducing the Barbizon style to America did not do so until the summer of 1855 upon his arrival in Newport.[9]

 

Additionally, the Providence Artist, Thomas Robinson, future agent of Vose and friend of Hunt, did not make his first trip to Europe until 1854.[10]

 

By this time, Vose was introducing European Painting to Providence. Eventually he enlisted the young Providence painter who was frequently traveling to Europe to act as his agent. Towards this end, Thomas Robinson was most eminently successful.

Robinson made several trips to Europe, at first to study. He began his studies under the instruction of August Bonheur and several years later, with Gustave Courbet.[11]  Upon his return from Europe, he befriended William M. Hunt, and through Hunt, Robinson befriended Jean Francois Millet and several other Barbizon painters.[12]  By the 1870s both Vose and Robinson were assembling what today would be incredible collections of European paintings, much of it owned by Providence men. Some of the most notable collections were, the Beriah Wall Collection, the Henry Steer Collection, the Governor William Sprague Collection, the Royal Taft Collection, and the largest of all, Mr. Seth Vose's private collection.[13]&[14]  

 

To emphasize the nature and content of these collections, we can do well to examine the auction of Messrs. Beriah Wall and John A. Brown of March 18, 1886, in New York.[15] These collections, primarily established by Thomas Robinson, included the following: thirteen Corots, eleven Daubignys, nine Diazs,four Gericaults, six Rousseaus, five Delacroixs and works by Jongking along with other Europeans. American artists represented included: Inness, Cropsey, Doughty, Gifford, Heade, Homer, Moran and Weeks among others. Lastly, the auction included Corot's famous painting, "The Forest of Fountainbleau" which belonged to the estate of Mr. Wall and for which Corot received the Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1846.[16]

 

Throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century the Providence City Directory listed several galleries, such as Leith & Danforth, F.J. Sheldon, Tilden-Thurber, and F.A. Waterman among others. Obviously, all these institutions contributed to the development of Providence as an art center. The role of Seth Vose and Thomas Robinson were well-established and documented.[17]  However, Mr. Robinson was also a painter of note whose achievements are worth examining.

 

In February 1878 he exhibited with his friend, Marcus Waterman, at the Williams and Everett Gallery in Boston.[18]  The Boston Transcript reviewed his show and claimed it to be, "the best and most important exhibition of home art ever made in this city''.[19]   He also exhibited in the Centennial of 1876 and again in 1887 with the American Exhibition in London with S.R. Burleigh also of Providence.[20]-[21]   Robinson also exhibited in Paris in 1879 and was reviewed by the French Journal Paris Artiste which was "enthusiastically praising" of his work.[22]

 

In Boston he was a regular exhibitor with the Allston Club, The Boston Art Club, and the Paint and Clay Club of that city. He also was a member of these clubs and probably of many others.[23]

 

Robinson was an animal painter and later drifted into landscapes. this was probably due to the enormous exposure to his French Barbizon friends. A Contemporary account clearly states that his development "carried him from a smooth, tight and conventional style of workmanship to the extreme of breadth and force in his later period".[24]

 

With the high interest in Barbizon Art in Providence, S.M. Vose found new ways to expand his clientele. In 1886 he exhibited an exclusive show on French Barbizon paintings in Providence.[25]  What he did not own, he borrowed and this may, in fact, have been the first exclusive showing of such work in New England. However, there is some evidence to suggest he held a similar type of show in 1881.[26]

 

Thus, with all this French activity and influence, Providence was also producing its home-grown talent throughout the 1870s. Artists such as George W. Whitaker, Frederick J. Batchellor, and James S. Lincoln were talented and established local artists. But of all of the talented and successful local artists, none reached the level of artistic achievement and recognition as did Edward M. Bannister.

 

In 1870, Bannister and his wife settled in Providence to begin a serious painting career.[27]  While living in Boston for the previous twenty years, he was, among other things, a successful photographer. Giving up the camera for serious work with the brush, he was supported by his wife who operated a hairdressing business both in Boston and Providence, and possibly other cities.[28] 

 

In 1872, Bannister received his first award for a painting exhibited in a local fair.[29]  His great achievement, the Bronze Medal of the American Centennial in 1876 is well-documented, and this did bring him to the forefront of the American art scene. His painting "Under the Oaks" was sold for $1500 which was a hefty sum for an American painting at this time.[30]

 

Almost as significant as the Centennial were the three medals he won at the Boston Mechanics Fair in 1878, 1881, and 1884.[31]  These Fairs were without a doubt some of the most important exhibitions of art held in America at the time. During this period some of the most noted and accomplished painters from America and Europe exhibited. This period was Bannister's heyday in which he took two Bronze and a Silver Medal in these fairs.

 

Bannister's most successful years were also Providence's growth in the art world. Bannister became a board member of the Rhode Island School of Design which was chartered in 1878. The Providence Art Club was chartered in 1880. The Art Club literally began in his studio with George W. Whitaker and Charles W. Stetson, Bannister's friends and fellow artists.[32]

 

The Providence Art Club was chartered by the state of Rhode Island and began as an endeavor whose main purpose was the promotion of local artists. The Club's first exhibition was on May 19, 1880, and was a reasonable success. Artists both local and national exhibited, and The Providence Journal provided coverage on nine separate occasions.[33]

 

By 1887, the Club House was moved from its original location on North main street to it's present location on Thomas Street.[34]  The old Club House was found lacking in several respects, most notable: Proximity to a main street, lack of proper lighting, and the required three flights up to enter the gallery. The Thomas Street place was refurbished at "moderate-expense" and eliminated the problems.

 

The establishment of the club had a profound impact upon the gentry of Providence. It must be noted that the club was primarily men, and well-to-do at that. Never was it intended to be a proletariat exhibition hall for artists nor did it serve the needs of the aspiring artists. But it did provide an opportunity for the individuals whose interest in collecting art to interchange ideas and to meet and establish friendships with artists of the local areas.

 

Aside from providing the wealthy of Providence with a diversion for their time,the club promoted some very significant exhibitions for the public. The regular spring exhibitions were supplemented with such events as the C.W. Stetson Class on Etching (January 12, 1882), the John Mason Collection of Etchings Exhibition (December 15, 1884), the Beriah Wall Loan Exhibition (January 24, 1885), and the Jean Francois Millet Exhibition of Etched Work (March 27, 1887). Additionally, the club held regularly sponsored musical and poetry evenings for its membership along with a Friday night entertainment of the performing arts.[35]

 

The Rhode Island School of Design, while in its infancy in the early 1880s, gave annual exhibitions of art work by its students. By 1885 the school held a meritorious exhibition of American artists.[36]  This exhibition was the first of its kind given by the school. The jury of five from New York (H. Bolton Jones), Boston (Robert W.Vonnoh), and Providence (Sidney Burleigh, George Whitaker, and Henry Tilden) selected 130 of the 170 works sent in for exhibition.

 

Of the many artists who showed, the most noted names were Edward Moran, William M. Chase, Frederick P. Vinton, Childe Hassam, F.S. Church, and R.S. Gifford among others. Locally, almost all the artists exhibited including E.M. Bannister and C.W. Stetson.

 

With this level of artistic involvement predominating in Providence, several local artists were developing national and international notoriety. The Paris Salon accepted the works of George Hitchcock in 1887,[37]  and John N. Barlow, Henry R. Kenyon, and E.W.D. Hamilton in 1889.[38]  Mr. Hamilton, an instructor at the School of Design, would later study impressionism in France and introduce its concepts to Providence.

 

Other Providence painters acquiring noted reputations were Walter F. Brown who illustrated Mark Twain's book "A Tramp Abroad";[39]  Edward C. Leavitt with his still lifes being collected in New York and Boston and exhibiting at the National Academy of Design;[40]  Sydney Burleigh, who studied under Laurens and Turner in Paris and received many awards for his water colors;[41]  and George W. Whitaker, pupil and friend of both Inness and Wyant and who studied in Barbizon where he met Millet.[42]  All these men were instrumental in establishing Providence in the forefront of the American Barbizon influence in the 1880s and 1890s.

 

THE DECLINE

 

If we had to identify the main reason why Providence is not readily recognized for its art contributions in American today it would be the following: Providence, being a small city at this time, was not able to support the arts on a continuing basis like the larger cities in America. A second and almost equally important reason was the failure to establish a museum for the deposit of collections of the art patrons upon their departure to the hereafter.

 

The Providence Daily Journal of April 15, 1891 took to task the issue of the city not having a museum. It seems several art collectors were quite interested in leaving large portions of their art collections to the Providence community, but were unable to do so. While other cities provided institutions and museums for such gestures, Providence did not, and it resulted in the disbursement of its finest collections.

 

An attempt to remedy this condition did occur. In 1887, a Mr. Albert J. Jones died and willed the sum of $25,000 for the express purpose of establishing an institute of art in Providence.[43]  For the next seven years, legal battles over these funds resulted in the Rhode Island School of Design securing the award. the other litigants included the Providence Art Club, Brown University, and the Providence Art Institute.[44]

 

The Providence Art Institute was formed for the purpose of acquiring the Jones funds and establishing a public museum. One of the more positive aspects of this endeavor was a fine loan exhibition held at Infantry Hall, Providence, by the members of the Institute. this exhibition, held on October 29, 1891, was a demonstration of what European paintings were still in the hands of Providence collectors. With the funds finally allocated to the Rhode Island School of Design, the association disbanded.

 

Before the final disposition of the will in May 1894,the Providence Daily Journal ran a series of articles favorable to the Art Institute.[45]  On September 20, 1891, The Journal brought two points which accurately reflected the problem of the museum. First, "that a city of a population of one hundred and thirty thousand inhabitants and to have no art museum or the beginnings thereof is not to the credit of a municipality" . . . and second, the Providence Art Institute occupies a position entirely distinct from that occupied by the Rhode Island School of Design and the Art Club. "The former of but which can only (but) attain to the position of a technical school . . . and latter by its charter, by-laws, and regulations restricted to the sphere of a social club."

 

In another attempt to promote the interest in the visual arts, several local artists met in October of 1893 to form an art student's league. Hugo Bruel and G. Arthur Hays were the most involved in this program, and the league met in Hays' studio for instruction. The league was essentially "a cooperative organization, designed for mutual improvement, and its object primarily, study from life and nude."[46]

 

The variety of artistic programs and activities in the 1890s indicates an involvement of the Providence community. However, it also masks the decline of Providence's importance as a center of artistic interest. In truth, the Babizon influence in America was fading. A new force in the art world was beginning to take hold. This movement, strong in Europe and growing in America, we characterize today as impressionism.

 

This change in the artistic temperament was not accommodating to the Providence community, and the community was not interactive with this movement. As the times changed, so did the market. Providence, changing from a heavy industry town to a jewelry producer, with a light industry base, no longer generated the climate of yore.

 

The best indication of the changing character of the art condition in Providence was the exodus of its established painters. The painters of national reputation began to look elsewhere for patrons. Hugo Bruel and Walter F. Brown moved to New York in 1894 and 1897, respectively.[47]  Edward M. Bannister closed his studio of 25 years in the Wood's Building and moved temporarily to Boston in 1899.[48]  C.W. Stetson removed to Pasadena, California in 1890, but returned periodically before moving to Rome permanently.[49]

 

The exodus was most certainly reflective of the purchasing activities, or lack of it, for the Providence gentry. The American Barbizon mode which budded in this town was almost dead. In its place, America soon would have its own artists trained in France in the new mode

 

Interestingly enough, one of Providence's own ushered in the new wave. E.W.D. Hamilton, a Providence artist, presented a paper to the Providence Art Club on April 8, 1892.[50]  This paper, in conjunction with his exhibition at the club, lectured on the new style current in France from where he recently returned from several years of study.

 

Mr. Hamilton was enamored with the impressionist activity and stated in his lecture: ""artificial pigments are dead and lifeless beside living color. The aim and struggle of the artist must be to approximate - not by lowering his color but by increasing his light"...the pendulum of art has swung...".[51]   Soon thereafter, Mr Hamilton removed to Boston where he instructed in the new mode.

 

The latter 1890s showed the significant art influence in Rhode Island resounding only in the architecture of Newport. The visual arts were in a new era. Other cities with the great museums, a multitude of galleries, and ready patrons were establishing the influence and controlling the taste in art. What once was, was no more.

 

Hugo Bruel probably best reflects the whole of the Providence art movement. A successful portrait painter in the hey days, he extinguished his life by taking gas in his studio on August 5,1910.[52]  With no patrons and a multitude of financial troubles, he was found lying on the floor of his studio in front of his mother's portrait. A note placed on a table read in part, "I am going to meet my maker ahead of the natural summons. Let him be my judge." AMEN!

 

 

 

NOTES

 

1. Cappelli, Louis W., American Guide Series, Rhode Island, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1937.

 

2. Providence Daily Journal, September 4, 1854.

 

3. Providence Daily Journal, September 4, 1854.

 

4. Art Catalog of the Rhode Island Art Association, September, 1854.

 

5. Providence Daily Journal, September 5, 1854.

 

6. Providence Daily Journal, September 6, 1854.

 

7. "Vose Galleries", Archives of American Art Journal, XXI (No 1, 1981).

 

8. "Vose Galleries", Archives of American Art Journal, XXI (No. 1, 1981).

 

9. William M.Hunt Memorial Exhibition Catalog, Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1979, p.9.

 

10. Troyen, Carol, The Boston Tradition, Exhibition Catalog, Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1981, p. 138.

 

11. The Boston Post, Obituary, Thomas Robinson, March 3, 1888.

 

12. The Boston Post, March 3, 1888.

 

13. NOTE: The Providence Public Library has catalogs of these collections.

 

14. Providence Daily Journal, April 9, 1893.

 

15. Auction Catalog - In the collection of the Providence Public Library.

 

16. Providence Daily Journal, January 19, 1886.

 

17. "Vose Galleries", Archives of American Art Journal, XXI (No 1, 1981).

 

18. Boston Herald, February 24, 1878.

 

19. Boston transcript, February 2, 1878.

 

20. Official Catalog of the Centennial, Philadelphia, 1876.

 

21. Providence Daily Journal, September 25, 1887.

 

22. Boston Evening Transcript, March 29, 1888.

 

23. Allen, Edward, A Memoir of Thomas Robinson, Providence: A & E

Club, 1888.

 

24. Boston Evening Transcript, March 29, 1888.

 

25. Providence Daily Journal, January 19, 1886.

 

26. Slocum, Grace L

Providence, 1928

 

Two Centuries of Rhode Island Art,

An unpublished manuscript in the

 

collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society.

 

27. Providence Daily Journal, January 10, 1901 - Obituary.

 

28. Liberator, November 23, 1855.

 

29. Providence Daily Journal, September 21, 1872.

 

30. Providence Daily Journal, November 24, 1901.

 

31. Providence Daily Journal, May 15, 1901.

 

32. "Remembrance of George W. Whitaker", Providence Daily Journal, January 10, 1915.

 

33. Miner, George L., Angel's Lane, Providence 1948.

 

34. Providence Daily Journal, October 20, 1886

 

35. See the Providence Daily Journal on dates shown.

 

36. Providence Daily Journal, April 17, 1885.

 

37. Providence Daily Journal, May 15, 1887.

 

38. Providence Daily Journal, April 14 and 21, 1884.

 

39. "Obituaries", American Art Annual, Vol. XXVII.

 

40. "Obituaries", American Art Annual, Vol. V.

 

41. "Obituaries", American Art Annual, Vol. XXVIII.

 

42. Providence Daily Journal, January 10, 1915.

 

43. Providence Daily Journal, December 25, 1887.

 

44. Providence Daily Journal, May 22, 1894.

 

45. Providence Daily Journal, March 1, 1891, September 20, 1891, June 24, 1891, and November 17, 1891.

46. Providence Daily Journal, January 21, 1894.

 

47. Providence Daily 1891.

 

Journal, January 4, 1894 and October 21,

 

48. Providence Daily Journal, July 3, 1899.

49. Providence Daily Journal, April 14,1889.

50. Providence Daily Journal, April 10, 1892.

51. Providence Daily Journal, April 10, 1892.

52. Providence Daily Journal, August 6, 1910.

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