The Power of Place

By Richard L. Brown Herald Staff

The premise of the exhibition “The Power of Place” at the Cornish Colony Museum in Windsor is stated in its subtitle: “Paintings that define the American image.” That’s more than a bit hyperbolic. In truth, it’s unlikely that even the grandest exhibition could distill a workable definition of the American image from the sprawling and diverse four-century-long visual feast that is American art.

That said, there is an impressive cross section of American talent, including Cornish Colony artists Maxfield Parrish, Henry and Edith Prellwitz, and Robert and Bessie Potter Vonnoh. Major 19th century artists Albert Bierstadt, William Bradford, Sanford Robinson Gifford, George Inness and Frederic Remington share the walls with later artists including Ansel Adams, Kinuko Craft, Gary Milek and Andrew Wyeth.

If the exhibition falls short of defining the American image, many of its individual pieces do evoke the power of individual places. A subset of works also reveals the role that American artists played in documenting the exploration of North America’s northlands.

William Bradford of New Bedford, Mass., was fascinated by tales told by mariners and whalers who traveled into Arctic regions. In the 1860s he signed on to several exploratory voyages into the waters off Newfoundland and Greenland, making numerous paintings based on his experiences.

“Caught in the Ice Floes” (1867) is one of many works he did on the theme of icebound vessels. Besides dramatically depicting the perils of exploration, the work offers a study in the suffused lighting, fine detail and cool tonalities that define the Luminist movement, a uniquely American art phenomenon.

Illustrating the other side of the continent is “Alaska” (1889) by Albert Bierstadt. Best known for his monumental and dramatic scenes of the mountainous West, the artist shows significant restraint in this calm painting of modest dimensions (about 11 by 15 inches). A solitary sail-rigged canoe floats across a tranquil lake under a gray sky, with cloud-shrouded mountains in the background. The scene is quiet and naturalistically-colored, a welcome change from the idealized palette he frequently used.

Frederic Remington’s “Father Marquette Discovering the Mississippi” (1895; the event took place near present-day Prairie du Chien, Wis.) presents the artist’s contemplative side. Famous for his action-filled “wild West” work, Remington here presents the tonsured Jesuit standing motionless in a canoe paddled by four Indians and surrounded by thick fog. By turning the priest’s head away from the viewer and shrouding the scene in heavy mists, Remington conveys something of the mystery and uncertainty that accompanies moments of great discovery.

Although he lived after the era of exploration, Ansel Adams’ photographs are arguably the noblest extant images of the western United States. His technical mastery of large format photography allowed him to create images of vast sweep, which yet yield a wealth of crisp detail. His three works in this show have the visual power to stop passing viewers in their tracks.

Unsurprisingly, the one region whose power of place this exhibition evokes is New England, and specifically the area around Cornish, N.H., and Windsor, Vt., to which members of the Cornish Colony felt spiritually bound. Parrish called it “a paradise.”

Edith Prellwitz’ bucolic “Landscape with Cows: Cornish, New Hampshire” (1898) may be indicative of the power a place can have on an artist’s work. The artist and her husband, Henry, lived in Cornish from 1895 to 1898, before moving to New York.

Prellwitz had studied in Europe and at the Art Students League, and much of her work is stylistically derivative of that experience. She is frequently associated with Tonalism, a dark and moody style derived from the work of some of the French Barbizon School painters. In her Cornish landscapes, however, she employs a completely different mood and palette. “Landscape with Cows” is airy, well-lighted and free of academic overtones. One has the sense that the artist is speaking in her true voice, liberated from the expectations of critics and the necessity of sales, and painting for the pure joy of it.

Of the many artists associated with the Cornish Colony, Maxfield Parrish is surely the most iconic. Parrish loved the area and painted it in broad views and fine detail. Using basic building blocks of rugged hills and cliffs, skies laden with cumulus clouds and steep color gradients that soar through rich shades of blue and green into near black, he created works that elevate humble subjects into the realm of archetypes.

One such is “Hunt Farm” (1948), a painting of a Windsor property that was one of the artist’s favorite subjects. From the foreground, a rock-lined streambed at the bottom of a hill, one’s view is swept up to a barn whose flat surfaces, catching the morning light, stop the eye and direct attention to the Georgian farmhouse at left, nearly hidden by sheltering elms. One has the sense of order prevailing on the hilltop, having triumphed over the chaos of tumbled rocks and twisted birches at the bottom.

If any single work in this show carries the sense of a place’s power, it is surely “Janion’s Maple” (1956). Ancient cultures worshipped trees for their appearance of permanence in a changeable world. Such is the sense of this huge old tree, viewed from ground level, its branches rising out of sight. Firmly rooted, it communicates strength and timelessness.

“The Power of Place” will be on view through Oct. 6 Within its half-dozen brightly painted galleries the little gem that is the Cornish Colony Museum exhibits more Parrish works than any other — that’s right, any other — museum in the United States, making a visit at any time a delightful experience. With “The Power of Place” as the icing on the cake, a visit is highly recommended.

The Cornish Colony Museum is on the second floor of the old firehouse building in Windsor, at 147 Main St., and is handicapped accessible. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday and closed Monday. The telephone number is 674-6008 and the website www.cornishcolonymuseum.org.

Richard L. Brown is an art historian and former gallery director.