Robert Hallowell
Staten Island
c. 1928

Name: Staten Island
Brand: Robert Hallowell
Price: 2500 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Staten Island Watercolor on paper, c. 1928 Signed with the Estate stamp lower left Sheet size: 19 1/8 x 23 7/8 inches Titled on verso Part of small series of watercolors done of the New York City harbor and islands. A masterpiece of American watercolor of the 1920's Illustrated: Marbella Gallery, Inc: Robert Hallowell (1886-1939), No. 67, titled "Steam Ships" Condition: Very good small voids in the corners Color strong and fresh Provenance: Estate of the Artist Marbella Gallery, New York Fred Thayler Cohen Regarding Hallowell: “There is in Mr. Hallowell’s work a grace that amounts to graciousness.” Leo Stein (1872-1949) Robert Hallowell (1886-1939) was highly regarded as an artist exhibiting at the finest galleries and museums in American and France in the 1920’s and 1930’s. His other professional life included graduating from Phillips Academy, Andover and Harvard University. While at Harvard he was president of the Harvard Lampoon (1909-1910) and was a founding member of the now famous New Republic Magazine with Walter Lippman and Herbert Croly. Robert worked there as business manager and publisher from 1914 to 1925, when he left to concentrate on his artistic creativity. Hallowell was an official for the Treasury Department during World War One. His final Government posting was as Assistant Director of the Federal Arts Project in 1935-36. How can someone of such cultural involvement have fallen to total obscurity today? All the works came from Mildred Thaler Cohen (1921-2012), a noted New York collector and gallerist. Along with her first husband, they started collecting American paintings in the 1950’s when they were out of public favor. Upon the death of her husband, she opened the Marbella Gallery on 72nd Street in Manhattan establishing the reputation of being a connoisseur/dealer. The offerings were displayed in her gallery and home salon style.. When and how the Thaler’s acquired the works remain a mystery. On my first viewing of Hallowell’s artwork, I was taken with his application of paint (oil and especially watercolor) and his color harmonies and delicate shading. The limited scholarship on the artist tells us he was self-taught. All the more impressive. Today, they stand the test of time and should be regarded for their beauty and for the historic acclaim they achieved in the 1920’s and 30’s. Public Collections: Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Cleveland Museum of Art Brooklyn Museum of Art Baltimore Museum of Art Harvard University, Adams Hall McBride Collection Lewishon Collection Arthur B. Davies Collection Metropolitan Museum of Art Worcester Art Museum Museum of the City of New York Fogg Art Museum, Harvard Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Denver Museum Newark Museum Wilmington Museum Selected Exhibitions Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1924, 1925 Montrose Gallery, New York, 1924, 1927, 1929, 1932 Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY 1925 Druet Gallery, Paris 1927 Feragil Gallery, New York 1930 Knoedler Gallery, Chicago 1930 McClaus Gallery, Philadelphia 1933 Macbeth Gallery, New York 1934 Paul Reinhardt Gallery, New York 1939 Babcock Gallery, New York 1949 Baltimore Museum of Art Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C. Art Institute of Chicago 1925, 1926, 1927 Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts 1927, 1928, 1929 Brooklyn Museum, American Watercolors, Pastels, Collages, 1984 Excerpts from reviews of Hallowell’s exhibitions: Royal Cortissoz (Art Critic New York Herald Tribune), 1924 “He is a firm and spirited workman, clever in the notation of his light, and very good in his color.” Leo Stein (1872-1949) noted art critic and brother of Gertrude Stein, wrote in 1925 “There is in Mr. Hallowell’s work a grace that amounts to graciousness.” New York Times Obituary Notice, Jan. 28, 1939 “…in 1926 a large showing of his watercolors and oils in the Montrose Gallery in New York established his American reputation.” Elizabeth Luther Cary (1967-1936, the first art critic at the New York Times), 1935 “The paintings of Robert Hallowell speak in fewer words of greater things…Done expertly with a personal emotion…” Ronald G. Pisano (1948-2000), noted American Art Historian and scholar on the works of William Merritt Chase wrote in the Marbella Gallery catalog of Robert Hallowell’s works: “His art, like many of his contemporaries, reveals his interest in modernist tendencies introduced to American art in the early 20th century. It is only within recent years that artists such as Hallowell are being appreciated for their full value and whose historical significance is now emerging.”

Creator:

Robert Hallowell (1886-1939, American)

Creation Year:

c. 1928

Dimensions:

Height: 19.125 in (48.58 cm)Width: 23.875 in (60.65 cm)

Medium:

Watercolor

Movement & Style:

American Modern

Period:

1920-1929