Name/Title
Winter Night Saugatuck by Robert "Harry" FortEntry/Object ID
2019.40.01Description
Wintertime landscape painting of a gathering of modest homes covered in a blanket of snow. The low sun dimly illuminates rooftops and bare tree branches. Windows glow with warm, golden light. The quiet view, possible painted from a second-story window, includes an empty laundry line in the foreground. Signed "H. Fort" in lower right corner.
Beige wooden frame with ribs on inner and outer edge.Type of Painting
EaselCollection
Buildings: Homes, cottages and private residences, WinterCataloged By
Slusar, LindaAcquisition
Accession
2019.40Source or Donor
Kutzel, Ken, McGlone, WilliamAcquisition Method
Donation, unconditionalNotes
This painting was previously accession as 2019.33.03. Accession information updated Oct. 2024 by Sally Winthers at the request of donor Ken Kutzel.Made/Created
Artist
Fort, Robert "Harry" 1875-1954Location
Shelf
AC bay 14Room
Art Conservation RoomInterpretative Labels
Label
From "Robert Fort: Rediscovering a Michigan Artist" at the OSH 2020
Robert Harry Fort
1875 – 1954
Untitled
(Winter Night, Saugatuck)
c. 1947 | oil on canvas
In this work, Fort displays his skill in using color to manipulate mood. It is a snowy night. We are peeking into the back yards of Griffith Street, looking south. The bridge on the Blue Star Highway to Douglas can just be made out in the background. It is bleak. Blue and purple are used to create a feeling of darkness and cold. The only warm color in the painting is the yellow from the windows. In the background, Fort presents a light source, drawing the eye deeper into the work. Note that the three sources of light form a triangle, the “bones” of the composition.
Mr. Fort may have painted this work from the Newnham House where he lived. The roof in the left foreground is probably his studio, located behind the Newnham. We peer into the side and backyard of the Herbert home, lost to fire. Much of this area is now part of the campus of the Saugatuck Center for the Arts.
Collection: Saugatuck-Douglas History Center
2019.83.03
Gift of Kenneth M. Kutzel and William M. McGloneCreate Date
December 5, 2020Update Date
October 16, 2024