Louise Well Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington NC: International Art Treasures Web Magazine November 2003

Louise Wells Cameron

At the Edge, etching with Aquatint by Robert Motherwell, From Sea to Shining Sea: Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum

An incredible display of American artists is currently exhibited in beautiful North Carolina.

From Sea to Shining Sea: on display until May 30, 2004

One of the most impressive collections of American artists is located in Wilmington. John Singleton Copley, Albert Bierdstadt, Severin Roesen, and Thomas Hicks to name just a few of the artists.

Mrs. James Russell (Katherine Graves) by American portraitist John Singleton Copley From Sea to Shining Sea: Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum
Title: Mrs. James Russell
(Katherine Graves), 1770
Artist: John Singleton Copley,
American (1738-1815)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
From the Collection of
North Carolina Museum of Art
Image Courtesy:
Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum

Katherine Graves Russell of Charlestown, Massachusetts is depicted as an aging matriarch in the impressive portrait by John Singleton Copley.

She was the mother of eleven children and both the wife and daughter of magistrates. Of particular note, upon close examination is the power emanating from her gaze as captured by the noted portraitist John Singleton Copley, a self-taught artist of note. His paintings are said to capture America's Colonial Society as it was on the brink of the Revolution.

From Sea to Shining Sea captures the historical changes Colonial America underwent and also the emerging talents of what would become noted American artists including Thomas Hicks.

Severin Roesen demonstrates that it is not only the Europeans who are skilled at still life painting. The dramatic black background adds to the allure of the beautiful colors among the different pieces of fruit in this compelling work.

Still Life with Fruit displays a multitude of different fruits which has the suggestion of wealth. In the time frame of the painting it was only the wealthiest of families who could afford such vast quantities of delicious fruit, if any at all. Roesen adds depth and character to the delicious looking bounty.

Still Life with Fruit by Severin Roesen : From Sea to Shining Sea: Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum
Title: Still Life with Fruit,
about 1855-60
Artist: Severin Roesen
(American 1815-1872)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Gift of the North Carolina Art Society
(Robert F. Phifer Bequest)
in honor of Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Lee Smith, Jr 1977
Image Courtesy:
Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum

A Community of Artists

In 1915 five noted painters, Charles Hawthorne, William Halsall, Gerrit Beneker, Oscar Gieberich and E. Ambrose Webster; donated art to form what would become a permanent art collection. One year earlier The Provincetown Art Association was formed after an acknowledgment from both the town and the artists that there was a need for an arts institution. From small beginnings the collection has grown into nearly 2,000 artworks since it's inception.

The Collection of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum includes works by Edwin Dickinson, Charles Hawthorne, and Hans Hofmann alongside contemporary works. The historic significance of the collection should not be overlooked. Given it's time span, the assembled works demonstrate the changing times and genres among the included artists.

Eighty of these works were selected and are on display at the Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum.

Girl Sewing I by Charles Hawthorne From Sea to Shining Sea: Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum
Title: Girl Sewing I, circa 1923
Artist: Charles Hawthorne (American 1872-1930)
Medium: Oil on board
Image Courtesy: Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum

From 1893-1896 Charles Webster Hawthorne studied at the Art Students League.

He traveled to Europe and after exposure to the works of Frans Hals, a noted influence on him, Hawthorne returned home and went on to open the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown.

Among his students were Ross Moffet and Edward Dickinson.

Charles Hawthorne influenced others to join him whether pursuing their own artistic skills or to help create an art colony celebrating then contemporary artists. Hawthorne became noted for painting scenes within the Provincetown area.

Oscar Gieberich, like Charles Hawthorne, studied at the Art Students League. He became Hawthorne's assistant at the Cape Cod School of Art.

Gieberich was one of the founding members of the Provincetown Art Association.

Born in Germany Gieberich would end his life in Provincetown and continue to paint incredible works such as the impressive Landscape with Flowers.

The viewer has the opportunity to note the subtle use of muted color in this work.

Landscape with Flowers by Oscar Gieberich From Sea to Shining Sea: Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum
Title: Landscape with Flowers, 1943
Artist: Oscar Gieberich (American)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Gift of Beulah Conrad
Image Courtesy: Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum

Included within the collection are contemporary artists and their works such as Elise Asher's The Three Graces, 1982, Selina Tieff's Medieval Women with Green, Red & Gold of 1998 hand alongside those who were contemporaries of Hawthorne.

Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum

Dedicated to the artists, past and present, of North Carolina is a critical theme of the museum's agenda.

Originally known as the St. John's Museum of Art, the Museum chose to honor it's key benefactor and volunteer, Louise Wells Cameron, by renaming the museum in her honor in 1999. An incredible gesture to the noblesse of volunteers, perhaps one of the more underrated and rarely noted vocations.

April 2002 witnessed the opening of the new facility housing the collections - a building designed by Charles Gwathmey, the first he has built in his home state of North Carolina. The respected architect is probably best known for his work on the addition to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

Cameron Art Museum

www.cameronartmuseum.com

Opening Image Credit:
Title: At the Edge, 1984
Artist: Robert Motherwell (American 1915-1990)
Medium: Etching with aquatint
Gift of the Artist
Image Courtesy: Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum

Louise Wells Cameron

A Community of Artists

Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum

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