Director’s Foreword

Lane, John R.

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Director’s Foreword

John R. Lane

The Voyage of the Icebergs: Frederic Church’s Arctic Masterpiece

~The unexpected but extremely welcome gift of Frederic Edwin Church’s The Icebergs in 1979 was a defining moment in the history of the Dallas Museum of Art. The sale of the painting at auction electrified the art world, and its subsequent donation to the DMA brought the Museum worldwide attention. Then as now, Church’s Icebergs is one of...

Author

John R. Lane

PublisherDallas Museum of Art

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20127

Director’s Foreword

The unexpected but extremely welcome gift of Frederic Edwin Church’s The Icebergs in 1979 was a defining moment in the history of the Dallas Museum of Art. The sale of the painting at auction electrified the art world, and its subsequent donation to the DMA brought the Museum worldwide attention. Then as now, Church’s Icebergs is one of the Museum’s top treasures. This magnificent painting occupies a singularly enviable niche within the collection: it is popular with the public, highly regarded by art historians in both museums and the academy, and is considered one of the artist’s finest works.

It is most appropriate, then, to celebrate this masterwork on the eve of the Museum’s centennial, an occasion ripe for reflection on the institution’s achievements during its first one hundred years and for consideration of its goals for the next century. The gift of The Icebergs was intended to draw attention to the Dallas Museum of Art’s permanent collection and to serve as a catalyst for future growth in American art. Since its acquisition in 1979, this magisterial painting has been one of the works of art most requested for traveling exhibitions and has served as a standard by which additions to the collection are judged.

In her ten years as the Dallas Museum of Art’s Curator of American Art, Eleanor Jones Harvey has built on this legacy, orchestrating the acquisition of notable works by John Singleton Copley, John Frederick Kensett, William Wetmore Story, Severin Roesen, and Georgia O’Keeffe, adding luster to a collection that continues to grow and improve. Exhibitions and programming play significant roles in building a museum’s audience; however, it is the caliber of the permanent collection that, in the long run, determines a museum’s importance. This project developed from a J. Paul Getty Trust Grant designed to redirect attention to the Museum’s permanent collection through installation and interpretive programming. Dr. Harvey chose to revisit the painting’s original debut in 1861 as a “Great Picture,” a solo presentation complete with crimson velvet drapes, dramatic lighting, and a printed broadside to enhance the viewer’s sense of awe and appreciation of the painting. Her goal was to help the modern viewer understand why our forebears stood in line to pay a quarter (in 1861 currency; today the comparable value would be approximately $5.00) for the privilege of seeing a single painting.

The time was also ripe for an amplification of the painting’s history, so ably researched and presented by Dr. Gerald Carr in his landmark book Frederic Edwin Church: The Icebergs, published by this Museum in 1980. Dr. Harvey teamed with Dr. Carr to write the current volume, which brings the story of The Icebergs up to the present day. In his introduction, Dr. Carr reflects on the impact of Church’s painting—on the artist’s career, on the market for American art, and on his own career as a scholar. His reconsideration provides a thoughtful capstone to his work thus far on Church and The Icebergs. Dr. Carr also compiled the bibliography included in this volume, which is the most comprehensive list of citations to date pertaining to The Icebergs. We are grateful both for his words and for his support of this endeavor.

It is our very good fortune to have Dr. Harvey turn her attention to The Icebergs on this occasion. Her outstanding scholarship on nineteenth-century American landscape painting, coupled with her particular fondness for Frederic Church’s Arctic pictures, laid the groundwork for this volume. Her essays address the creation and marketing of The Icebergs, from its inception to its eventual sale in England in 1863, and its “loss” and rediscovery more than one hundred years later. This publication marks the most complete retelling of the painting’s return to the spotlight in 1979. Together, these essays consider the power of marketing in both centuries on the fate of The Icebergs and on Church’s career.

This compelling story could not have been written without the generous assistance of many of the people who were directly involved in bringing the painting back into the limelight, notably Grete Meilman, then co-chair of American paintings at Sotheby’s New York, whose memory of the events surrounding the consignment and sale of The Icebergs is enduringly impressively detailed; Mair Baulch, then the wife of the administrator of Rose Hill Remand House for Boys in Manchester, England, who filled in many of the gaps in the chronology of events leading up to the sale; and Dr. Sandra Feldman, then a researcher for Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., in New York, whose indefatigable research skills allowed her to locate, if not find, The Icebergs months before the rest of the world would know of its existence. To them Dr. Harvey acknowledges her debt and gratitude for their assistance, information, and enthusiasm for the telling of this story.

Many others deserve special mention for their roles, and we are delighted to acknowledge the assistance of the following individuals, in alphabetical order: Ann Berman; Anne Cassidy, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; Dr. Timothy Clifford, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland; Stuart Feld, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Inc., New York; Greg Forster, Rector, St. Wilfred’s Church, Northenden, Manchester; Howard Godel, Godel & Co., New York; James Hill and Frederick Hill, Berry-Hill Galleries, Inc., New York; the late David C. Huntington and his widow, Trudy Huntington; Marisa Keller, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Dr. Franklin Kelly, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Roberta Louckx, Sotheby’s New York; John Marion; Jay Maroney; Francois de Menil; Ross Merrill, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; James Miller, Sotheby’s London; Harry S. Parker III, Director, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Arthur J. Phelan; Peter Rathbone, Sotheby’s New York; Linda Silverman; Dr. Theodore E. Stebbins Jr., Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University; Marilyn Symmes, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, New York; Evelyn Trebilcock, Olana State Historic Site, Hudson, New York; Dr. William H. Truettner, Smithsonian American Art Museum; Christopher Weimann; and Dr. John Wilmerding.

At the Dallas Museum of Art, our thanks go in particular to Lyle C. Gray, McDermott Graduate Fellow in American Art, and Mary Leonard, Research Librarian, for their invaluable contributions to this publication. Thanks also go to Bonnie Pitman, Deputy Director, and Charles L. Venable, Director of Collections and Senior Curator of Decorative Arts, for their support for all facets of this project, and to Tamara Wootton-Bonner, Head of Exhibitions and Publications, for keeping the publication on track. Others who deserve particular mention are Giselle Castro-Brightenburg and Michael Mazurek, Visual Resources; Jeanne Lil Chvosta, Rights and Reproductions; and Ana Petrovich, Curatorial Administrative Assistant.

Others who have helped craft this elegant volume are Fronia W. Simpson, copy editor; John Hubbard, Ed Marquand, and Marie Weiler at Marquand Books; Laura Iwasaki, proofreader; and Patricia Fidler at Yale University Press.

Final thanks, as always, go to the anonymous donors of The Icebergs, whose unparalleled generosity set a high standard for philanthropy and civic goodwill, providing a painting that numbers among the handful of principal icons in the Museum’s permanent collection. The presence of The Icebergs at the Dallas Museum of Art is a constant reminder of the abiding power of such a magnanimous gesture. It is to them, with great affection and regard, that we dedicate this volume.

John R. Lane
The Eugene McDermott Director

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