Dallin Museum To Unveil Newly Acquired 1890 Painting Tonight

Arlington MA

15 October, 2020

1:54 PM

Description

From Your Arlington: 12 October 2020 Written by Susan Gilbert Experience the unveiling of a newly acquired and restored Cyrus Dallin painting, "Village Road, Auvers-sur-Oise," from the comfort of your own home beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15. You can watch this fascinating documentary three ways -- on the museum's website, www.Dallin.org, on its YouTube channel or on its Facebook site. This virtual unveiling interviews Dallin's great-granddaughter Patricia McCabe, who shares special family memories and anecdotes, as well as archival images of the Dallin family. The 15-minute film also features Dallin Museum Director Heather Leavell, who discusses the restoration process, and board director Geri Tremblay, who explores the reasons that such a celebrated sculptor also loved to paint. The Dallin Museum collaborated with Arlington Community Media inc., Arlington's broadcast station, to produce this video. ACMi filmed McCabe, Leavell, Tremblay, as well as shots of "Village Road, Auvers-Sur-Oise" and other paintings on display. Using a documentary style, images and video accompany the interviews, which help to tell the story, says Kevin Wetmore of ACMi. 'Village Road, Auvers-sur-Oise' This oil on canvas depicts a French landscape that Dallin painted around 1890 during his time in Paris as a sculpture student. "Village Road, Auvers-sur-Oise" shows a lovely farm scene during Dallin's visit to Auvers-sur-Oise, a picturesque country village about 17 miles northwest of Paris. For Dallin and his art-school friends, visits to Auvers provided a much-needed respite from the grind of studio life and the crowds and pollution of the city. Auvers-sur-Oise was Van Gogh's final resting place. In May 1890, he was discharged from a hospital in Saint-Remy and rented a room in Auvers. Before to his death by suicide two months later, Van Gogh had been highly productive, painting nearly 80 scenes of the countryside in and around Auvers. Many of these scenes, such as "Cottages at Auvers-sur-Oise," bear some resemblance to Dallin's work. This "seriously beautiful" town, as Van Gogh described it, attracted many other Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters, including Pierre August Renoir, Paul Cezanne, Camille Pissarro and Jean Baptiste Camille Corot. Donated by Dallin's great-granddaughter The painting was given to the Dallin Museum by Cyrus Dallin's great-granddaughter, McCabe. "About a year ago, I made the decision to give the Dallin Museum, as a permanent loan, this painting. This is a painting I've lived with for at least 40 years," she said in an Oct. 11 news release. "One reason why I treasure the painting so much, and it was difficult to give up, was that in the early 1970s I made a college trip to Europe, hitchhiking through five countries. At one point, my companions and I found ourselves dropped off at a crossroads in the middle of Burgundy, France. There, on one corner, was a farm that looks much like the one in the painting. Hence, every time I look at the painting, it reminds me of my grand European adventure," she said. "I am so glad that my great-grandfather Cyrus Dallin is not only going to be remembered for his magnificent statues, but also for his lovely paintings," she added. McCabe is thrilled that this piece of art, as well as many others, have found a safe home at the Dallin Museum, and will be able to be remembered for years to come by all the admirers of Dallin and his art. Restoration process Although the painting was previously exhibited at the Dallin Museum, it had many age-related condition issues and needed restoration. The Arlington Cultural Council provided the museum with a generous grant, which enabled it to restore the painting to its original appearance. The painting was restored by Peter Williams Museum Services in Boston. Williams first spot-cleaned the painting to see whether it could withstand treatment. The paint was badly cracked, with cupping, and lifting off the surface of the canvas. (This happens when a canvas hasn't been kept taught on its stretcher bars.) Dallin may have caused this problem himself by rolling the painting up to transport it. After cleaning off the remainder of surface dirt and varnish, Williams placed the painting on a vacuum-suction table. This apparatus applies heat and pressure to the painting's surface, enabling the paint cracks to close and the painting to flatten to its original width. A layer of wax was then used to bond a new lining―or second canvas―to the back of the original in order to stabilize the painting. During vacuum pressing, some of the wax adhesive used for the lining penetrates through the cracks in the paint, pulling a lot of dirt with it onto the painting's surface. Williams removed that additional dirt and wax, and then applied a fresh coat of varnish to the surface. This important final step brings out the depth of the brushwork and gives the canvas a lovely sparkle. Cyrus Dallin Cyrus Dallin is a celebrated American sculptor, educator and indigenous-rights activist who lived and worked in Arlington for more than 40 years. Many fans of Dallin's sculpture do not know that he was also an accomplished landscape painter. More than 60 of his paintings have been identified in museums and private collections across the country. Dallin Museum The Cyrus Dallin Art Museum, at Mass. Ave. and Mystic Street in Arlington, is on the ancestral land of the Massachusett Tribe. The museum pays its respects to their descendants who still inhabit this land today. The staff and board are working on a plan to reopen the museum and, in the meantime, welcome everyone to visit virtually. The museum has an immersive tour on its website, Dallin.org. Viewers you can get up close to the art and learn the interesting history of each piece. The website also has several fun virtual-learning resources for kids and families. The Dallin Museum is grateful to Arlington Community Media inc. for help in producing this program, and to the Arlington Cultural Council for funds to support the restoration of "Village Road, Auvers-sur-Oise." YourArlington.com has provided news and opinion about Arlington, Mass., since 2006. Publisher Bob Sprague is a former editor at The Boston Globe, Boston Herald and Arlington Advocate. Read more at https://www.yourarlington.com/about.