Post by admin on Nov 15, 2008 8:34:36 GMT -5
www.app.com/article/20081115/NEWSFRONT/811150333/1285/LOCAL09?GID=1q2ZZfEb0JLeVocPfBiRAiabLfoZ7PKB/WFgVLYnmwM%3D
FREEHOLD — On Sunday, the Monmouth County Historical Association is saying good-bye to George.
The 1857 oil painting "Washington at the Battle of Monmouth" is being lent to George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens in Virginia for a one-year show on generals of the Revolutionary War that begins in February.
So, from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Sunday at its headquarters-museum here, the association will host a going-away party for the painting it has owned since 1937.
"It's just a fun event," said Lee Ellen Griffith, association director for the last 16 years. "We figure we'll get some people in the museum who haven't seen it in awhile."
The approximately 4 1/2-foot-tall, 7-foot-wide painting, which will likely depart from Monmouth County in December, hangs in the foyer of the headquarters-museum on Court Street. It was crafted by Emanuel Leutze, who six years earlier painted the famous "Washington Crossing the Delaware."
The association's painting captures a scene from the June 28, 1778, Battle of Monmouth — George Washington, commander of the Continental Army, confronting his second in command, Maj. Gen. Charles Lee, after his retreat from British troops on what is now Monmouth Battlefield State Park.
Garry Wheeler Stone, park historian, said the work is a "history painting" — conveying "the emotional or spiritual or moral content of a history event," although it's not true to the Washington-Lee meeting.
"This is theater," Stone said. "This is to edify the viewer what a great person George Washington was. This is for the general public and schoolchildren."
Nonetheless, it is a famous painting, Stone said. "Washington at the Battle of Monmouth," according to Griffith, is the most notable of the association's 175 paintings.
In 1853, Leutze unsuccessfully petitioned Congress to fund a Washington-at-Monmouth painting. But David Leavitt, a Brooklyn banker, commissioned the work for a home he had in Massachusetts.
The painting that went to Leavitt was about 13 feet by 22 feet and now is held by the University of California at Berkeley.
Leavitt also commissioned Leutze to do a smaller version — the one that now hangs here — for his daughter, Elizabeth Leavitt Howe, according to the association.
"His daughter liked it (the original painting)," Griffith said. "(But) she lived in a smaller place."
The second painting passed through the family until it was donated to the association in 1937, according to the historical group.
A significant difference in the newer work is that Leutze altered Washington's expression, changing it from one of anger, according to the association. Critics said the angry look had made Washington appear undignified, according to the group.
Part of the painting's noteworthiness is its value, which Griffith declined to reveal. And part of it, according to Griffith, is "artistic merit and historical significance — the subject matter, how it was created, how it came down in the family and how it came to us."
"It's requested by art historians and military historians because of the subject matter," Griffith said.
As the most requested artwork the association owns, "it kind of earns its keep," Griffith said.
The painting was recently reproduced for the box cover of The Battle of Monmouth board game, produced by Clash of Arms Games, Sassamansville, Pa.
"This is one of our more unusual requests for the image," Griffith said.
The association normally charges $100 to $200 for permission to reproduce the painting, she said.
The loan to Mount Vernon is free, with the borrowers paying expenses, Griffith said.
The Virginia show, "George Washington & His Generals," is to include more than 120 paintings, artifacts and manuscripts.
"The exhibit has a number of sub-themes, (such as) "Critics, Rivals and Betrayers,' " said Emily Shapiro, Mount Vernon's curator of fine and decorative arts. "This painting kind of dramatically expresses one of these points of contention between Washington and his generals."
The show is being sponsored by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, which runs the Washington home site, and the Society of Cincinnati, founded by American and French ally officers of the Revolutionary War.
The Society of Cincinnati contacted the association a few months ago about using the painting, Griffith said.
The painting, apparently, has been loaned only twice before — in 1946 for an exhibit in New York City, and from 1993 to 1995 for a traveling exhibit. For the latter exhibit, the organizer, the Fraunces Tavern Museum, New York City, paid for the restoration of the painting, Griffith said.
The Mount Vernon show is scheduled for Feb. 21 to Jan. 10, 2010. The painting should be returned to Monmouth County within a few weeks of the closing, Shapiro said.
"It's going to be shown in a very prestigious location," said Stone, the park historian.
Joseph Sapia: (732) 308-7754; (800) 822-9770, ext. 1-7754; JSapia@app.com.
FREEHOLD — On Sunday, the Monmouth County Historical Association is saying good-bye to George.
The 1857 oil painting "Washington at the Battle of Monmouth" is being lent to George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens in Virginia for a one-year show on generals of the Revolutionary War that begins in February.
So, from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Sunday at its headquarters-museum here, the association will host a going-away party for the painting it has owned since 1937.
"It's just a fun event," said Lee Ellen Griffith, association director for the last 16 years. "We figure we'll get some people in the museum who haven't seen it in awhile."
The approximately 4 1/2-foot-tall, 7-foot-wide painting, which will likely depart from Monmouth County in December, hangs in the foyer of the headquarters-museum on Court Street. It was crafted by Emanuel Leutze, who six years earlier painted the famous "Washington Crossing the Delaware."
The association's painting captures a scene from the June 28, 1778, Battle of Monmouth — George Washington, commander of the Continental Army, confronting his second in command, Maj. Gen. Charles Lee, after his retreat from British troops on what is now Monmouth Battlefield State Park.
Garry Wheeler Stone, park historian, said the work is a "history painting" — conveying "the emotional or spiritual or moral content of a history event," although it's not true to the Washington-Lee meeting.
"This is theater," Stone said. "This is to edify the viewer what a great person George Washington was. This is for the general public and schoolchildren."
Nonetheless, it is a famous painting, Stone said. "Washington at the Battle of Monmouth," according to Griffith, is the most notable of the association's 175 paintings.
In 1853, Leutze unsuccessfully petitioned Congress to fund a Washington-at-Monmouth painting. But David Leavitt, a Brooklyn banker, commissioned the work for a home he had in Massachusetts.
The painting that went to Leavitt was about 13 feet by 22 feet and now is held by the University of California at Berkeley.
Leavitt also commissioned Leutze to do a smaller version — the one that now hangs here — for his daughter, Elizabeth Leavitt Howe, according to the association.
"His daughter liked it (the original painting)," Griffith said. "(But) she lived in a smaller place."
The second painting passed through the family until it was donated to the association in 1937, according to the historical group.
A significant difference in the newer work is that Leutze altered Washington's expression, changing it from one of anger, according to the association. Critics said the angry look had made Washington appear undignified, according to the group.
Part of the painting's noteworthiness is its value, which Griffith declined to reveal. And part of it, according to Griffith, is "artistic merit and historical significance — the subject matter, how it was created, how it came down in the family and how it came to us."
"It's requested by art historians and military historians because of the subject matter," Griffith said.
As the most requested artwork the association owns, "it kind of earns its keep," Griffith said.
The painting was recently reproduced for the box cover of The Battle of Monmouth board game, produced by Clash of Arms Games, Sassamansville, Pa.
"This is one of our more unusual requests for the image," Griffith said.
The association normally charges $100 to $200 for permission to reproduce the painting, she said.
The loan to Mount Vernon is free, with the borrowers paying expenses, Griffith said.
The Virginia show, "George Washington & His Generals," is to include more than 120 paintings, artifacts and manuscripts.
"The exhibit has a number of sub-themes, (such as) "Critics, Rivals and Betrayers,' " said Emily Shapiro, Mount Vernon's curator of fine and decorative arts. "This painting kind of dramatically expresses one of these points of contention between Washington and his generals."
The show is being sponsored by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, which runs the Washington home site, and the Society of Cincinnati, founded by American and French ally officers of the Revolutionary War.
The Society of Cincinnati contacted the association a few months ago about using the painting, Griffith said.
The painting, apparently, has been loaned only twice before — in 1946 for an exhibit in New York City, and from 1993 to 1995 for a traveling exhibit. For the latter exhibit, the organizer, the Fraunces Tavern Museum, New York City, paid for the restoration of the painting, Griffith said.
The Mount Vernon show is scheduled for Feb. 21 to Jan. 10, 2010. The painting should be returned to Monmouth County within a few weeks of the closing, Shapiro said.
"It's going to be shown in a very prestigious location," said Stone, the park historian.
Joseph Sapia: (732) 308-7754; (800) 822-9770, ext. 1-7754; JSapia@app.com.