Gossip and Crochet

Painting

-

Milwaukee Public Library

Name/Title

Gossip and Crochet

Artwork Details

Medium

Oil on Canvas

Collection

Wisconsin Art Collection, Artwork Collection

Acquisition

Accession

1917.1

Source or Donor

Merton Grenhagen

Acquisition Method

Gift

Made/Created

Artist

Merton Grenhagen

Date made

circa 1903 - circa 1904

Notes

The attached 1986 restoration report from David Spangler Art Conservation notes that the painting is "not dated" but "possibly ca. 1890s." The MS dated 6/21/1917 (attached to the accession record at 1917.1) says that Grenhagen completed the painting "while he was living in France several years ago." The 1/7/1923 MJ says that Grenhagen studied at the Julian Academy in Paris on scholarship for two years in 1903, and then in "Europe for a year" again in 1906 (a copy of the article is attached to Grenhagen's person profile). Thus, if the painting was indeed completed in Paris, maybe it was done between 1903 and 1906, probably ca. 1903-1904.

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Framed Size

Height

60 in

Width

49 in

Provenance

Notes

According to the 6/21/1917 MS, Grenhagen completed the painting in Paris where it “once hung in a Paris salon.” It later exhibited as part of a collection of work by Grenhagen at the Milwaukee Art Institute in June 1917, from where it was apparently delivered to the old South Side Library.

Interpretative Labels

Label

In this intimate portrait by Merton Grenhagen, once "one of Wisconsin's most sought-after portrait artists," two women are shown "chatting over fancy work." This work has an interesting international provenance, having been completed by the artist while he was living in France, where it was exhibited in a Paris salon and "warmly praised by Paris critics," returned to the United States and featured as "one of the most notable of a collection Mr. Grenhagen is exhibiting in the Milwaukee Art Institute," and thereafter delivered to the old South Side library (replaced by the Forest Home Library, now served by the Mitchell Street Branch) "to become the possession of the people of Milwaukee." The South Side Library, opened in 1909 and still standing at 931 W. Madison St., was the first Milwaukee Public Library branch library, with roots dating back even further to 1893. This portrait is as at-home in the Neo-Renaissance Central Library Rotunda as it would have been in the Neo-Classical/Beaux Arts South Side Library more than one hundred years ago.