Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building
Encyclopedia
The Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building is an exhibit building located at the Shelburne Museum
in Shelburne, Vermont
.
It was built as a memorial to the Museum's founder, Electra Havemeyer Webb
, and her husband, James Watson Webb
. It is home to the Museum's European Paintings Collection. The collection is shown in six period rooms relocated from Electra and J. Watson Webb's 1930s New York City apartment on 740 Park Avenue.
’s children erected the Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building in honor of the Museum founder. Completed in 1967, the Memorial Building’s silhouette duplicates that of the 1843 Wilcox-Cutts House in Orwell, Vermont
. The Memorial Building represents the architectural idiom known as Greek Revival. It was a style pervasive in the United States, gaining prominence in the second quarter of the 19th century and reaching its peak of popularity by 1850.
Drawing inspiration from Grecian temples, Greek Revival architects adopted the rectangular structure of colonial houses and reoriented it so that the triangular gables would run parallel, rather than perpendicular, to the road. Anchoring the pedimented facade with a heavily columned, often two-storied porch, and sometimes flanking the main gable with mirroring wings, such as in the Memorial Building, architects achieved the proportion and symmetry of the ancient structures that inspired them.
since around 2,300 BCE. The Romans perfected the process and by the early 16th century monumental bronze statues of heroes on horseback, saints, and monarchs stood in public squares all over Europe, while smaller figures decorated churches and the homes of art patrons. Bronze sculpture is made by using a mold or by casting from an original model. Either process allows an artist to create several nearly identical copies of one work of art. In the 19th century, technological changes improved the production of multiple casts and smaller tabletop sculptures became fashionable and affordable. Both European and American art collectors decorated their parlors with statues of animals, classical goddesses, and romantic figures.
Shelburne Museum
’s bronze collection focuses on small decorative bronzes. Bronze castings of exotic animals by French artist Antoine Louis Barye can be seen in the Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building. His small sculptures of elephants, crocodiles and lions are displayed in the library. Barye spent hours at the Paris zoo sketching the anatomy of animals to accurately reproduce them in bronze. His sculpture elephant and driver, located in the foyer captures the rough skin of an elephant and the contrasting soft cloth costume of his driver.
On the first floor, there are two Edgar Degas
bronzes. The horse and rider combinations were originally modeled in wax and later cast in bronze (after the artist’s death in 1917). Degas' studies horses and jockeys was a way to explore the effects of form, space, and motion.
In the basement of the Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building, there is a collection of 19th and 20th century American bronzes. It features work by such western artists as Charles Russell
and Harry Jackson
; these artists, who often served as cowhands and guides of the western plains, modeled their work after real people and personal experiences. Their bucking broncos, cowboys, and portraits of Native Americans are romantic interpretations of a vanishing American west.
’s collection of fine art includes objects originally in the collection of Henry O. Havemeyer
and Louisine Elder Havemeyer, parents of Electra Havemeyer Webb
who inherited the collection from them. The European painters still represented by the collection include Rembrandt van Rijn, Edouard Manet
, Claude Monet
, Edgar Degas
, and Mary Cassatt
. The Havemeyer
s were among the first American collectors of French Impressionists painting and amassed one of the most important collections of Old Masters and Impressionist paintings on American soil.
The French artist Edouard Manet
(1832–1883) felt strongly that keen observation made a great painter. A brilliant technician who used broad strokes of paint as comfortably as he did minute dabs of color, Manet explored ideas about light that set the stage for the Impressionist movement. He completed "Blue Venice" while touring Italy
in 1874. His dashes of paint create the effect of sunlight sparkling on water; on the gondolier, Manet used multiple strokes of color to create a three-dimensional effect.
Claude Monet
(1840–1926), a prominent leader of the Impressionist movement, stressed the importance of working outdoors and letting art illustrate the color and movement of the natural environment. Five landscapes by Monet are included in the Museum’s collection. In the 1880s and 1890s Monet captured the changing effects of natural light by creating series of paintings of the same subject in different weather and light conditions. His "Haystacks in the Snow" is part of a series of over thirty paintings of haystacks.
Pastels, soft, colorful chalks, were perfected by the French in the 19th century. Edgar Degas
is considered one of the founders of Impressionism
though he preferred to be considered a Realist. Degas's work differed from other Impressionists; while Monet concernated on the effects of light and shadow, Degas focused on unusual perspectives and complex formal structures. The Shelburne Museum
has seven Degas works in the collection, which can be seen in the Electra Havemeyer Webb Memeorial Building.
The one American Impressionist Mary Cassatt
, had close ties to the Havemeyer
and Webb families. Louisine Elder Havemeyer, Electra Havemeyer Webb
's mother, was a close friend to Mary Cassatt
. Cassatt played a large roll in shaping the Havemeyer
's French Impressionist collection. You can find the Cassatt pastels and prints in the Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building, including a portrait of the Museum's founder, Electra Havemeyer Webb
, and her mother Louisine Elder Havemeyer.
’s furniture collection represents the different styles and tastes of 18th and 19th century America. It includes examples of the most sophisticated urban furniture produced in the nation as well as many simpler pieces made by country cabinetmakers for use in rural homes. These country pieces include one of the greatest strengths of the Museum – its collection of paint-decorated furniture.
During the American industrial revolution (ca. 1865-1900) the furniture industry, like every other major industry, was mechanized. Individual craftspeople and designers like Louis Comfort Tiffany
, whose work can be seen in the Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building continued to work for upper class patrons, but inexpensive, factory-made chairs, tables, beds, and stands flooded and eager market of middle-class Victorians. The popularity of carved decoration and elaborate upholster, characteristic of the period, can be seen on the furniture displayed in the parlor of the Lightouse (see Colchester Reef Light
) and on the promenade deck of the Ticonderoga (see Ticonderoga (steamboat)
).
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
in Shelburne, Vermont
Shelburne, Vermont
Shelburne is a town in southwestern Chittenden County, Vermont, United States, along the shores of Lake Champlain. The population was 7,144 at the 2010 census.-History:...
.
It was built as a memorial to the Museum's founder, Electra Havemeyer Webb
Electra Havemeyer Webb
Electra Havemeyer Webb was a collector of American antiques and founder of the Shelburne Museum.-Biography:Electra Havemeyer was born on August 16, 1888 to Henry O. Havemeyer and Louisine Elder, their youngest child...
, and her husband, James Watson Webb
James Watson Webb
General James Watson Webb was a United States diplomat, newspaper publisher and a New York politician in the Whig and Republican parties.-Biography:...
. It is home to the Museum's European Paintings Collection. The collection is shown in six period rooms relocated from Electra and J. Watson Webb's 1930s New York City apartment on 740 Park Avenue.
History
In 1960, Electra Havemeyer WebbElectra Havemeyer Webb
Electra Havemeyer Webb was a collector of American antiques and founder of the Shelburne Museum.-Biography:Electra Havemeyer was born on August 16, 1888 to Henry O. Havemeyer and Louisine Elder, their youngest child...
’s children erected the Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building in honor of the Museum founder. Completed in 1967, the Memorial Building’s silhouette duplicates that of the 1843 Wilcox-Cutts House in Orwell, Vermont
Orwell, Vermont
Orwell is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,185 at the 2000 census. Mount Independence was the largest fortification constructed by the American colonial forces...
. The Memorial Building represents the architectural idiom known as Greek Revival. It was a style pervasive in the United States, gaining prominence in the second quarter of the 19th century and reaching its peak of popularity by 1850.
Drawing inspiration from Grecian temples, Greek Revival architects adopted the rectangular structure of colonial houses and reoriented it so that the triangular gables would run parallel, rather than perpendicular, to the road. Anchoring the pedimented facade with a heavily columned, often two-storied porch, and sometimes flanking the main gable with mirroring wings, such as in the Memorial Building, architects achieved the proportion and symmetry of the ancient structures that inspired them.
Bronze Sculptures
Sculptors have been casting their ideas in bronzeBronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
since around 2,300 BCE. The Romans perfected the process and by the early 16th century monumental bronze statues of heroes on horseback, saints, and monarchs stood in public squares all over Europe, while smaller figures decorated churches and the homes of art patrons. Bronze sculpture is made by using a mold or by casting from an original model. Either process allows an artist to create several nearly identical copies of one work of art. In the 19th century, technological changes improved the production of multiple casts and smaller tabletop sculptures became fashionable and affordable. Both European and American art collectors decorated their parlors with statues of animals, classical goddesses, and romantic figures.
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
’s bronze collection focuses on small decorative bronzes. Bronze castings of exotic animals by French artist Antoine Louis Barye can be seen in the Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building. His small sculptures of elephants, crocodiles and lions are displayed in the library. Barye spent hours at the Paris zoo sketching the anatomy of animals to accurately reproduce them in bronze. His sculpture elephant and driver, located in the foyer captures the rough skin of an elephant and the contrasting soft cloth costume of his driver.
On the first floor, there are two Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
bronzes. The horse and rider combinations were originally modeled in wax and later cast in bronze (after the artist’s death in 1917). Degas' studies horses and jockeys was a way to explore the effects of form, space, and motion.
In the basement of the Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building, there is a collection of 19th and 20th century American bronzes. It features work by such western artists as Charles Russell
Charles Marion Russell
Charles Marion Russell , also known as C. M. Russell, Charlie Russell, and "Kid" Russell, was an artist of the Old American West. Russell created more than 2,000 paintings of cowboys, Indians, and landscapes set in the Western United States, in addition to bronze sculptures...
and Harry Jackson
Harry Jackson
Harry Jackson was the first man to be convicted in the United Kingdom via fingerprint evidence.On June 27, 1902, a burglary occurred in a house in Denmark Hill, London, and some billiard balls were stolen. The investigating officer noticed a number of fingerprints on a freshly painted windowsill,...
; these artists, who often served as cowhands and guides of the western plains, modeled their work after real people and personal experiences. Their bucking broncos, cowboys, and portraits of Native Americans are romantic interpretations of a vanishing American west.
European Paintings
Shelburne MuseumShelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
’s collection of fine art includes objects originally in the collection of Henry O. Havemeyer
Henry O. Havemeyer
Henry Osborne Havemeyer was an American entrepreneur who founded the American Sugar Refining Company in 1891. He was chosen vice president and afterward its president.- Background :...
and Louisine Elder Havemeyer, parents of Electra Havemeyer Webb
Electra Havemeyer Webb
Electra Havemeyer Webb was a collector of American antiques and founder of the Shelburne Museum.-Biography:Electra Havemeyer was born on August 16, 1888 to Henry O. Havemeyer and Louisine Elder, their youngest child...
who inherited the collection from them. The European painters still represented by the collection include Rembrandt van Rijn, Edouard Manet
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
, Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
, Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
, and Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt
Mary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists...
. The Havemeyer
Havemeyer
*Havemeyer Hall at Columbia University*Henry M. Havemeyer*Henry Osborne Havemeyer , sugar manufacturer*Henry W. Havemeyer*Horace Havemeyer*Louisine Havemeyer , art collector, suffragist, philanthropist...
s were among the first American collectors of French Impressionists painting and amassed one of the most important collections of Old Masters and Impressionist paintings on American soil.
The French artist Edouard Manet
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
(1832–1883) felt strongly that keen observation made a great painter. A brilliant technician who used broad strokes of paint as comfortably as he did minute dabs of color, Manet explored ideas about light that set the stage for the Impressionist movement. He completed "Blue Venice" while touring Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1874. His dashes of paint create the effect of sunlight sparkling on water; on the gondolier, Manet used multiple strokes of color to create a three-dimensional effect.
Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
(1840–1926), a prominent leader of the Impressionist movement, stressed the importance of working outdoors and letting art illustrate the color and movement of the natural environment. Five landscapes by Monet are included in the Museum’s collection. In the 1880s and 1890s Monet captured the changing effects of natural light by creating series of paintings of the same subject in different weather and light conditions. His "Haystacks in the Snow" is part of a series of over thirty paintings of haystacks.
Pastels, soft, colorful chalks, were perfected by the French in the 19th century. Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
is considered one of the founders of Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
though he preferred to be considered a Realist. Degas's work differed from other Impressionists; while Monet concernated on the effects of light and shadow, Degas focused on unusual perspectives and complex formal structures. The Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
has seven Degas works in the collection, which can be seen in the Electra Havemeyer Webb Memeorial Building.
The one American Impressionist Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt
Mary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists...
, had close ties to the Havemeyer
Havemeyer
*Havemeyer Hall at Columbia University*Henry M. Havemeyer*Henry Osborne Havemeyer , sugar manufacturer*Henry W. Havemeyer*Horace Havemeyer*Louisine Havemeyer , art collector, suffragist, philanthropist...
and Webb families. Louisine Elder Havemeyer, Electra Havemeyer Webb
Electra Havemeyer Webb
Electra Havemeyer Webb was a collector of American antiques and founder of the Shelburne Museum.-Biography:Electra Havemeyer was born on August 16, 1888 to Henry O. Havemeyer and Louisine Elder, their youngest child...
's mother, was a close friend to Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt
Mary Stevenson Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker. She lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists...
. Cassatt played a large roll in shaping the Havemeyer
Havemeyer
*Havemeyer Hall at Columbia University*Henry M. Havemeyer*Henry Osborne Havemeyer , sugar manufacturer*Henry W. Havemeyer*Horace Havemeyer*Louisine Havemeyer , art collector, suffragist, philanthropist...
's French Impressionist collection. You can find the Cassatt pastels and prints in the Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building, including a portrait of the Museum's founder, Electra Havemeyer Webb
Electra Havemeyer Webb
Electra Havemeyer Webb was a collector of American antiques and founder of the Shelburne Museum.-Biography:Electra Havemeyer was born on August 16, 1888 to Henry O. Havemeyer and Louisine Elder, their youngest child...
, and her mother Louisine Elder Havemeyer.
Furniture
Shelburne MuseumShelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
’s furniture collection represents the different styles and tastes of 18th and 19th century America. It includes examples of the most sophisticated urban furniture produced in the nation as well as many simpler pieces made by country cabinetmakers for use in rural homes. These country pieces include one of the greatest strengths of the Museum – its collection of paint-decorated furniture.
During the American industrial revolution (ca. 1865-1900) the furniture industry, like every other major industry, was mechanized. Individual craftspeople and designers like Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements...
, whose work can be seen in the Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building continued to work for upper class patrons, but inexpensive, factory-made chairs, tables, beds, and stands flooded and eager market of middle-class Victorians. The popularity of carved decoration and elaborate upholster, characteristic of the period, can be seen on the furniture displayed in the parlor of the Lightouse (see Colchester Reef Light
Colchester Reef Light
The Colchester Reef Light in Vermont was a lighthouse off Colchester Point in Lake Champlain. It was moved to the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont in 1956....
) and on the promenade deck of the Ticonderoga (see Ticonderoga (steamboat)
Ticonderoga (steamboat)
The steamboat Ticonderoga is America’s last remaining side-paddle-wheel passenger steamer with a vertical beam engine of the type that provided freight and passenger service on America’s lakes and rivers from the early 19th to the mid-20th centuries...
).
See also
- Shelburne MuseumShelburne MuseumShelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
- Electra Havemeyer WebbElectra Havemeyer WebbElectra Havemeyer Webb was a collector of American antiques and founder of the Shelburne Museum.-Biography:Electra Havemeyer was born on August 16, 1888 to Henry O. Havemeyer and Louisine Elder, their youngest child...
- Wilcox-Cutts House