Note
the work is unsigned but documented in
Status: OK
Status By: Mary Voss
Status Date: 2012-09-24Note
Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society Art Collection Receives “World Class” Gift
In 1947, Richard Wilt and his wife, Ellen arrived at Ox-Bow for the summer. Ellen took in the wonder of the campus while Dick, as he was called, taught painting. Wilt worked tirelessly with his students, but did manage to take in all the wonders Saugatuck offered. That summer he captured the heat and brilliance of Lake Michigan in a painting, The Bathers. Wilt would go on that fall to become a professor of painting at the University of Michigan. “The Bathers” remained in the personal collection of the artist.
Richard did not return to Ox-Bow to teach; his position kept him in Ann Arbor until his death in 1981. He is represented in the collections of the Pennsylvania Academy of Art, Kalamazoo Institute of Art, South Bend Museum of Art, Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City, and the Dayton Art Institute in Ohio.
In 2012, Ellen Wilt gave The Bathers to the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society which retains a large collection of Midwest Art, especially works related to the Saugatuck-Douglas area. The work is on display in the Art Gallery located on the second floor of the Old School House History Center, 130 Center Street in Douglas. The museum gallery is handicapped accessible. For hours, see page two. The gallery is also open by appointment. For more information please call 269-857-5751.
SDHC Historical Chronicle 2013
