Exhibitions
October 5, 2024 through December 29, 2024
I don’t remember making a decision to be an artist.
I just was one.
Beth Van Hoesen, 1987
Beth Van Hoesen distinguished herself as a major figure in twentieth-century printmaking. Born in Boise, ID, Van Hoesen studied art at Stanford University, making California her home and creating art in the Bay Area for the rest of her life. The artist focused on capturing the essence of animals, flowers, people, and everyday objects in a realistic manner. She worked from life, carefully studying the animals and people that because her subjects. This intense focus distinctly captures each subject's individuality, and gives her work a supremely personal touch.
Van Hoesen began her career during an era when Abstract Expressionism, a 1940s-1960s movement that featured primarily male artists presenting hyper-masculinized public images, reigned supreme. Van Hoesen would have struggled to gain notoriety as a female artist during that time, especially given her choice of media, style, and subject matter.
…there are times that – in the process of an idea –
that you may do something that’s quite special.
It isn’t what you have in mind, but for some reason,
you’ve captured a line or a personality.
Beth Van Hoesen, Artist Interview, 1984
This dynamic exhibit features a selection of Beth Van Hoesen prints from the Arkell Museum collection.
Beth Van Hoesen (1926-2010)
Oka, 1991
Aquatint, drypoint, and etching with roulette
Printed in black and light brown inks; handcolored with watercolor
Gift of the E. Mark Adams and Beth Van Hoesen Adams Trust, 2011
You told me earlier in the year that some day you wanted a fine Inness…
Robert Macbeth to Bartlett Arkell, March 8, 1917
The Macbeth Gallery had a profound impact on the development of American art. It was the first gallery in New York City to focus on work by American artists, and held many ground-breaking exhibits. Today, the gallery is recognized for raising an interest in and creating a market for American art during its sixty-plus years as an influential firm (1892-1953). Our founder Bartlett Arkell made many important purchases at the Macbeth Gallery, and worked closely with gallery directors to build our extraordinary collection. This exhibit is a tribute to his vision for the future, and the early work of the Macbeth Gallery.
This exhibition features three Winslow Homer watercolors, two Gilbert Stuart portraits, and oil paintings of the Erie Canal. Also included are works by John Singer Sargent, George Bellows, Jon Corbino, Paul Sample, George Luks, and many more. On display through December 29, 2024.
George Inness (1825-1894)
The Rainbow, ca. 1878
Oil on canvas
Arkell Museum Collection, Gift of Bartlett Arkell
Purchased by Bartlett Arkell from the Macbeth Gallery, 1934
Learn about the early history of the Beech-Nut Packing Company and their use of fine art in advertising. Learn more about the Arkell Family: their philanthropy, business interests, and more. Don't miss the full color garden party video filmed at the Arkell home! Step outside and enjoy the beauty of the Memorial Garden, designed by Bartlett Arkell and built in memory of his wife Louisanna Grigsby Arkell.
This gallery features late 19th and early 20th-century American paintings purchased by Bartlett Arkell, our founder and first president of the Beech-Nut Packing Company, specifically to share with his community. Works on display include all seven of our oil paintings by Winslow Homer (reunited after independent loans to Germany, Maine, and Massachusetts), and significant paintings by many distinguished American artists including William M. Chase, Childe Hassam, George Inness, and Albert Bierstadt. The inspiration of Bartlett Arkell, this original art gallery opened to the public in 1929, and was once accessed from the original stand-alone Library building through two doors. Today, these doors are windows providing Library patrons a glimpse into the gallery and Museum visitors a glimpse into the original Library (now our Reading Room). Also not to be missed in this gallery is the full scale copy of The Night Watch by Rembrandt, commissioned by Arkell specifically for this space, and on display today.
