Acknowledgments

Tedeschi, Martha; Dahm, Kristi

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Acknowledgments

Martha Tedeschi, Kristi Dahm

Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light

At its inception, this project began as an inquiry into the Winslow Homer watercolors in the Art Institute’s collection. However, as research progressed, it quickly became apparent that contextualizing these works in an exhibition was critical to advancing the general understanding of Homer’s practice as a watercolor painter. This undertaking would have been impossible without the generosity and goodwill of the many lending institutions. We owe a debt of gratitude to the staff members of these …

Author

Martha Tedeschi, Kristi Dahm

PublisherArt Institute of Chicago

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00173.003

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-14087

Acknowledgments

At its inception, this project began as an inquiry into the Winslow Homer watercolors in the Art Institute’s collection. However, as research progressed, it quickly became apparent that contextualizing these works in an exhibition was critical to advancing the general understanding of Homer’s practice as a watercolor painter. This undertaking would have been impossible without the generosity and goodwill of the many lending institutions. We owe a debt of gratitude to the staff members of these museums, who have assisted the development of the exhibition by supporting our loan requests, providing information and photographs in a timely fashion, preparing works of art for transit and display, and giving graciously of their time.

In alphabetical order by institution, we extend our particular thanks to the following: at the Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Brian Allen, Susan Faxon, Denise Johnson, and James Sousa; at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Mukti Nurya Cerio, Laura Fleischmann, and Louis Grachos; at the Arkell Museum at Canajoharie, Holly Fiedler, Diane Forsberg, and Eric Trahan; at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Mandy Bartram, Doreen Bolger, Jay Fisher, Rena Hoisington, and Kimberly Schenck; at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Katy Kline and Laura Latman; at the Brooklyn Museum, Teresa Carbone, Elissa Flynn, Arnold L. Lehman, Antoinette Owen, and Karen Sherry; at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Aaron Betsky, Rebecca Posage, and Kristin Spangenberg; at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Heather Lemonedes, Gretchen Shie Miller, Timothy Rub, Moyna Stanton, and Charles L. Venable; at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Perry Choe, Gail Davidson, and Paul Warwick Thompson; at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Philip Brookman, Sarah Cash, Eric Denker, Paul Greenhalgh, Andrea Romeo, and Carol Ann Small; at the Farnsworth Museum, Helen Fisher, Michael K. Komanecky, Lora Urbanelli, and Angela Waldron; at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Karen Breuer, John E. Buchanan, Jr., Robert Flynn Johnson, and Maria Reilly; at the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Craigen W. Bowen, Erin Hyde, Thomas Lentz, William Robinson, and Miriam Stewart; at the Georgia Museum of Art, William Eiland and Christy Sinksen; at the Hirshhorn Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Kerry Brougher, Roni Polisar, Keri Towler, and Olga Viso; at The Hyde Collection, Erin Coe, Barbara Rathburn, and Randall Suffolk; at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Michael Govan, Kevin Salatino, and Amy Wright; at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Kevin Avery, Peter M. Kenny, Philippe de Montebello, Marjorie Shelley, Saskia Verlaan, and Barbara Weinberg; at Mills College Art Museum, Stacie C. Daniels, Jessica Hough, Mary-Ann Milford; at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, William M. Griswold, Dennis Jon, and Tanya Morrison; at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Clifford Ackley, Annette Manick, Patrick Murphy, Katrina Newbury, Kim Pashko, Roy Perkinson, Tom Rassieur, Sue Welsh Reed, Jennifer Riley, Malcolm Rogers, Erin Schleigh, and Stephanie Loeb Stepanek; at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Barbara Berrie, Judith Brodie, Marian Dirda, Earl A. Powell III, Andrew Robison, Kimberly Schenck, Alan Shestack, and Alicia B. Thomas; at the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Margaret C. Conrads, Julie Mattson, and Marc F. Wilson; at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Kathleen Foster, Anne d’Harnoncourt, Shelley R. Langdale, Shannon N. Schuler, and Innis Shoemaker; at the Phillips Collection, Sylvia Albro, Jay Gates, Joseph Holbach, and Eliza Rathbone; at the Plainfield Public Library, Joseph Hugh da Rold; at the Portland Museum of Art, Maine, Tom Denenberg, Daniel O’Leary, Jessica Skwire Routhier, and Ellie Vuilleumier; at the Princeton University Art Museum, Laura M. Giles, Alexia Hughes, and Susan M. Taylor; at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Hope Alswang, Jan Howard, and Gloria M. Martinez; at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College, Kirk Delman and Mary MacNaughton; at the Spencer Museum, University of Kansas, Janet Dreiling, Stephen H. Goddard, Saralyn Reece Hardy, and Kate Meyer; at the Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, Heather R. Haskell and Wendy Stayman; at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Michael Conforti, James Ganz, Sarah Hammond, and Monique Le Blanc; at the Strong National Museum of Play, Christopher Bensch, Carol Sandler, Richard Sherin, and Kate Turner; at the Terra Foundation for American Art, Elizabeth Glassman, Carrie Haslett, Elizabeth Kennedy, Cathy Ricciardelli, and Elizabeth Smith; at the Toledo Museum of Art, Don Bacigalupi, Andrea Mall, Lawrence W. Nichols, and Patricia Whitesides; at the Westmoreland Museum of Art, Douglas W. Evans and Judith Hansen O’Toole; at the Williams College Museum of Art, Lisa Corrin, Diane Hart, and Nancy Mowll Matthews; and at Yale University Art Gallery, Lynne Addison, Suzanne Boorsch, Helen Cooper, Theresa Fairbanks-Harris, Lisa Hodermarsky, and Jock Reynolds.

We are especially grateful to individuals who have supported the exhibition, either through loans from their own collections or by facilitating the loan of works in private hands. We offer our sincere thanks to: the Estate of Brooks McCormick; Charles Deering McCormick Trust (Miami Corporation); Eric Whiting and the staff at Christie’s, New York; Maria Friedrich; Julie Graham; Barbra Goering; Linda Kaufman; Karen and Kevin Kennedy; Peter and Paula Lunder; David Malcolm; Suzanne McCullagh; Sotheby’s, New York; and Richard Thune.

We owe a particular debt of gratitude to Abigail Booth Gerdts, editor of Record of Works by Winslow Homer, who provided much invaluable information ranging from provenance to dating and title issues, and who responded to our many inquiries with exceptional grace and patience. The authors would also like to thank individuals who provided assistance in the course of our exhibition planning, research, travels, and writing: in Chicago, Meg and Mark Hausberg; in Chicago and Maine, Edward McCormick Blair; at the Currier Museum, Karen Papineau and Andrew Spahr; in England, Susan Johnston, and staff members at Winsor and Newton; at the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Martha Smith; at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Richard Axsom; at Hirschl and Adler, New York, Joe Goddu; at the Seattle Art Museum, Patricia Junker; at the Smith College Art Museum, Aprile Gallant; at the University of Memphis, Steven John Ross; at the Wadsworth Athenaeum, Betsy Kornhauser; and at the Worcester Art Museum, David Acton.

The exhibition Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light was organized at the Art Institute of Chicago, where this book and the related website have also been produced. Many members of the administration and staff have participated in bringing these projects to fruition. Especially critical were the roles of the following individuals: in the Director’s Office, James Cuno, Dorothy Schroeder, Jeanne Ladd, Dawn Koster, Lisa Burback, and Maureen Ryan; in the Office of Finance and Administration, Patricia Woodworth; in the Department of American Art, Judith Barter, Sarah Kelly, Ellen Roberts, and Denise Mahoney; in the Audio Visual Department, William Foster; in Auxiliary Operations, Elizabeth Grainer; in Collection Management, Sam Quigley; in the Department of Conservation, Frank Zuccari, Lisa Backus, Francesca Casadio, Kelly Keegan, Kristin Hoermann Lister, and Faye Wrubel; in Design and Construction, Bernice Chu, Joseph Cochand, and Markus Dohner, designer of the exhibition installation; in the Development Department, Mary Jane Drews, Warren Davis, Emilie De Angelis, Linsey Foster, Lawrence del Pilar, and Amy Radick; in the General Counsel’s office, Julie Getzels, Maria Simon, and Troy Klyber; in the Department of Graphic Design, Lyn DelliQuadri, Elizabeth Boyne, David Ciske, Susanna Kim, Krystal Kimlick, Virginia Voedisch, and Jeff Wonderland; in the Department of Imaging, Christopher Gallagher, Robert Lifson, Loren Grage McDonald, and Caroline Nutley; in Lectures and Performance, Mary Sue Glosser and Kyle Waterman; in Marketing and Public Affairs, Carrie Heinonen, Erin Hogan, Melanie Kersey, and Chai Lee; in the Membership Department, Sarah Murphy and Missy Shinnall; in Museum Education, Robert Eskridge, Margaret Farr, Jeffrey Nigro, David Stark, and Lara Taylor; in the Department of Museum Registration, Mary Solt, Darrell Green, John Molini, Gregory Tschann, and especially Therese Peskowits, registrar for the exhibition; in the Museum Shop, Donna Brennan, Sue Meyer, Marianne Rathslag, and Ann Sugg; in Museum Technology, Elizabeth Neely, Carissa Kowalski Dougherty, and Erin Hersher; in the Operations Department, Meredith Mack; in the Physical Plant Department, Thomas Barnes and William Caddick; in the Department of Prints and Drawings, Douglas Druick, Jennifer Anderson, Jay Clarke, Christine Conniff-O’Shea, Jason Foumberg, Rachel Freeman, Barbara Hinde, Barbara Korbel, Suzanne McCullagh, Elvee O’Kelley, Mark Pascale, Karin Patzke, Mardy Sears, Matt Stolle, Harriet Stratis, Emily Vokt Ziemba, and the department’s volunteers and interns, especially Claire Chak, Alison Goldstein, Adrianne Gyorfi, Charles Hausberg, Ann Merritt, Sara Pope, Kelly Roark, Elaine Sobel, and Emily Warner; in the Publications Department, Susan Rossen, Amanda Freymann, Sarah Guernsey, Kate Kotan, Joseph Mohan, Robert Sharp, Elizabeth Stepina, and Susan Weidemeyer; in the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, Jack Brown, Susan Augustine, Amy Ballmer, Melanie Emerson, and Christine Fabian; in the office of Sustaining Fellows, Linda Lee; and in Visitor Services, Robert Hudson.

The lead foundation sponsor for the exhibition is the Terra Foundation for American Art, where we would like especially to thank Elizabeth Glassman, Elizabeth Kennedy, Donald H. Ratner, Catherine Ricciardelli, Elizabeth Rossi, and Amy Zinck. We also extend our thanks to Harris, the lead corporate sponsor, especially Ellen Costello and Bradford Ballast. Additional support was generously provided by the Jane Ellen Murray Foundation, where we are grateful to Jane Ellen Murray and Edwin Wentz. Support for the catalogue has been generously provided by The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, where we are particularly grateful to Larry Belles, Allan Drebin, Elisabeth Geraghty, and Scott McCue. A grant from an anonymous foundation provided additional support for photography. We are grateful to the Community Associates of the Art Institute of Chicago for underwriting the Homer website module, Behind the Scenes: Exploring Winslow Homer’s Watercolors, which will become a permanent feature linked to the Art Institute’s website.

For their innovative design of a complex book, we would like to thank the staff of Studio Blue, Chicago, especially Cheryl Towler Weese and Kathy Frederickson. We are also grateful for the guidance of Patricia Fidler and her colleagues at Yale University Press.

In closing, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my co-authors and collaborators on the Homer watercolor project. This interdisciplinary team was at every turn insightful, collegial, and generous. Kristi Dahm, Assistant Conservator of Prints and Drawings, carried out the extensive technical examinations of the Homer works on paper at the Art Institute, contributing her insights in the form of the innovative commentaries that appear throughout this volume. Her research into Homer’s pigments yielded important new information also published here, substantially aided by the time and expertise of Francesca Casadio, Andrew W. Mellon Conservation Scientist. Exhibition Assistant Karen Huang has been involved in every aspect of the project, playing particularly critical roles in loan administration, provenance research, and website development. Our guest author, Judith Walsh, Associate Professor of Paper Conservation at Buffalo State College, shared her extensive knowledge of Homer’s techniques and materials on two visits to Chicago and has contributed many new insights in the form of her excellent essays in this book. As a team, we extend sincere thanks to our discerning editor, Gregory Nosan, and to the book’s dedicated production coordinator, Carolyn Heidrich, both of the Publications Department.

On a personal note, the authors are grateful to our husbands and families. For their enthusiasm and moral support over a period of three years, we thank wholeheartedly Brian Herman; Michael, Sam, and Jake Lukasiewicz; and Paul Stenzel. I also wish to thank my parents, Anne and John Tedeschi, for their ongoing interest in this project, which owes much to conversations with my mother, a painter in watercolors, as well as to discussions with numerous other artists over the years. It is to the many devoted practitioners of watercolor, past and present, that this work is dedicated.

Martha Tedeschi
Curator in the Department of Prints and Drawings

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