Hawthorne Fine Art Announces the Release of its Annual Publication, Summer Reading

Hawthorne Fine Art is pleased to announce the release of its annual publication, Summer Reading. Featuring a selection of works from the collection alongside complimentary passages by seminal American authors, Summer Reading encourages a dialogue between the disciplines of art and literature, which both expands and enriches the experience of viewing. The forthcoming edition centers on the theme of nature’s bounty; its pages focus on lush, floral still-lifes and plentiful, seasonal landscapes.

Dufner, Edward-Springtime-unframed — Edward Dufner (1871-1957), *Springtime,* oil on canvas, 11 x 15 inches, signed lower left. Collection of Hawthorne Fine Art.

The abundant landscapes of Ernest Lawson (1873-1939), Ernest Parton (1845-1933), Childe Hassam (1859-1935) and Edward Dufner (1871-1957) illustrate nature’s bounty on its grandest scale—ranging from sweeping panoramas of the Brittany coast in Hassam’s Perros-Guirec, Cotes du Nord, France, to humble walkways overgrown with springtime blooms in Dufner’s Springtime. Even figurative works, such as those by John Sloan (1871-1951), George Cochran Lambdin (1830-1896), Alfred T. Bricher (1837-1908), Charles Courtney Curran (1861-1942) and Charles Waltensperger (1871-1931) draw upon the theme: lone figures commune with nature in Sloan’s portrait of his father, James Dixon Sloan, and in Bricher’s Along the Hudson River Railroad; while in Curran’s Reverie and Waltensperger’s The Flower Arrangement, the beauty of women is mirrored in lush bouquets of flowers. Sensuous floral still lifes—such as Roses, by Abbott Fuller Graves (1859-1936)—exalt the singular beauty of spring blooms.

Hassam_PR — Childe Hassam (1859-1935), *Along the Coast [Perros-Guirec, Cotes du Nord, France],* 1910, oil on panel, 7 x 10 inches, signed and dated lower right. Collection of Hawthorne Fine Art.

With the inclusion of literary texts, viewer engagement moves beyond the formal to encompass multi-dimensional notions of context and association across artistic modes. Supplemented by the words of such authors as Edward Allen Poe, Washington Irving, Celia Thaxter and Louisa May Alcott, the paintings are lent narrative suggestions that deepen one’s viewing experience, offering both context and multidimensionality. Such pairings—each a small case study in the span of nineteenth century art and literature—give depth and context to the relationships between these artists and their subject matter.

Selections for Summer Reading were drawn exclusively from the gallery’s new acquisitions. Speaking of this creative choice, Managing Partner Jennifer Krieger says:

I thought it might provide a window into where our interests lie and as such reflect our enthusiasm for the finest landscapes of the Hudson River School, Impressionist and Ashcan periods, lush still-lifes as well as life-like and engaging genre and figurative scenes. I also realized that a common thread throughout these divergent works is the theme of nature’s bounty. I enjoy seeing these paintings as a celebration of the fullness of life, whether as a rich expression of color, light and texture in a landscape or of relatable feeling in a human subject.

Summer Reading will be available in June from Hawthorne Fine Art. For more information on the publication, or to receive a copy, please contact the gallery at info@hawthornefineart.com, or by phone at 212.731.055

Download the full-text of Summer Reading 2016 here.