Note
Status: OK
Status By: Anna VanderJagt
Status Date: 2012-03-01Note
From Archivist's Corner [SDHS newsletter insert pages 11-12.]
The Society recently received into its permanent collection an important painting of Saugatuck done in 1902 by Chicago artist Carl Mauch.
The painting was donated by Russell Allen Valleau of Rantoul, Illinois. It was one of two local paintings that was part of an exhibit of Michigan art celebrating the state's sesquicentennial 1986-87. It is 14 x 18 inches, oil on board, and is described in the exhibit catalog by author Sadayoshi Omoto:
"The east end of the chain or draw ferry across the narrow part of the Kalamazoo River just west of the lake is the setting for this work. It is autumn; several people may be seen on the ferry on the opposite shore. To the far left is the Tourists' Home hotel (changed to Mount Baldhead Hotel in 1933 because the name sounded too commonplace), which burned in 1959. The vantage point for this painting is on the west shore of the river with the majestic dune Mt. Baldhead immediately behind. Even in earlier days, the Indians found this 262-foot dune an ideal lookout spot. Subsequently the Village of Saugatuck acquired the land for park use.
The scene is one of calm and quiet and painted with a sensitivity and richness in color modulations. No longer is there the rugged towering awesome wilderness but now there is the soft lush greens of the trees seen against the puffy, drifting cumulus clouds. The buildings take on a patina which enhances their solid yet intimate character. Gentle ripples in the Kalamazoo River, reflecting nature's wondrous colors, seem to invite the viewer to be a part of this pleasant attractive setting. It is understandable that artists from Chicago, seeking relief from the grime and harshness of the urban center, sought out this attractive setting for their paintings as well as for their physical well being."
The artist Carl Mauch (1854-1913) was born in Stuttgart, Germany and studied at the Stuttgart Academy with Noeher, Rustige, Piloty and C. Buehr. It is not known when he came to the United States but he was the first president of the Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago when many of the artists who in 1914 would found the Ox-Bow Summer School of Painting were members. In 1902 Chicago artists gathered more informally, many at Riverside Rest, the Bandle Farm on the Holland Road just north of Saugatuck, and at Tourist Home, the hotel shown in the picture.
Artists included in that early group, most with some ties to the Art Institute of Chicago, include John Warner Norton (1876-1934) best known for his murals; John Christen Johansen (1876-1966) a Danish-born portrait artist; Walter Marshall Clute (1870-1915), Chicago newspaper artist and landscape painter, and later Frederick Frary Fursman (1874-1943), teacher and painter of impressionistic landscapes and portraits.
The donor, Russell Allen Valleau was the son of Russell F. and Verna Sprang (Allen) Valleau and spent his early years on a family dairy farm near Saugatuck. Later, after serving 20 years in the Air Force he moved to Saugatuck for a few years before returning to Rantoul, Illinois.
Verna's parents, William Harrison "Harry" and Flora (Sprang) Allen had married in Kansas in 1886. In 1890 Harry had invested in a bank near Hoxie, Kansas. When it failed one asset left was a small fruit farm in Allegan County, so the entire family moved to Michigan. Robert Russell, a retired oilman from Pennsylvania, had opened Saugatuck's first hotel in an old warehouse near the river. He asked the Allens to manage it. In 1901, the hotel, named Tourist Home, was purchased by them and became a favorite stopping place for Chicago artists. The Allen family, including Rhea (Allen) Jackson (an aunt to donor Russell Allen Vaileau) and her husband, Harry, ran the hotel until 1955.
The Mauch painting will be a highlight of the 1997 museum exhibit: "Painting the Town: A Century of Artists in Saugatuck-Douglas."
