Bartlett Arkell
Bartlett Arkell - 1862 - 1946
Mr. Arkell's Picture Window 30" x 40"
Painted at the Arkell home looking out onto golf course in Manchester, Vt.
"Painted in 1942. A 'Window Picture' showing the view outside of Mr. Arkell's magnificent estate in Manchester, Vt. (in fall foliage), lake with swans on it. Large elm in lawn center, Equinox Golf Club grounds over the trees, American flag(!) all backed by dramatic Vermont mountain. The view is shown through a setting of the room window itself, window frame of large window, with window sill part of the interior of the two flanking small windows with small window panes etc. This painting was a direct commission through the Macbeth Galleries (who took 1/3 of the commission). After several preliminary sketching trips from home to Manchester over the project, Mr. Arkell had me come up to Manchester to stay a few days at the "1811 House" while I finished the picture. (Lena and Jim Valiton with me). A most difficult and trying and exhausting performance to get this picture painted, from inside the Arkell gorgeous drawing rooms, which I didn't enjoy at all. Owned of course by Mr. Bartlett Arkell of New York and Manchester, Vt. and now that Mr. Arkell is dead (1946) by his widow."
Notes:
This painting was last known to be at the Caldwell Gallery, 4574 Meadow Ridge Road, Manlius, N. Y. 13104 for sale for $8,500
Sold by Caldwell Gallery. Price unknown.
This painting was not bequeathed to the Arkell Art Museum and apparently ended up in the estate auction following Mr. Arkell's death.
"The Arkell's presence in Canajoharie had its origins in the last half of the nineteenth century with State Senator James Arkell, a village resident and co-founder of Arkell and Smith, a paper bag manufacturer. Works from Senator Arkell's personal collection were inherited by his son, Bartlett, the first president of the Beechnut Packing Co.. Bartlett Arkell presented the village of Canajoharie with a library in 1925, and added the art gallery in 1928, donatingworks from his personal collection. He then embarked on an ambitious program of acquisition with the help of the Macbeth Gallery in New York."
From a brochure published by the Canajoharie Library and Art Gallery.
A photo of the Beechnut factory and its employees and Mr. Arkell
Bartlett Arkell built a large processing factory in the town of Canajoharie producing an extensive line of baby food, second only to Heinz. The Beechnut Company employed practically all people living in the town.
The following Woodwards were purchased by Mr. Arkell or are part of the permanent collection at the Canajoharie Art Museum:
Mr. Arkell purchased June Corn to hang in his son's New York Office, and Mr. Arkell's Picture Window for his own summer home in Manchester Village, Vermont.
In 1938 the noted water color artist John Whorf painted a nearly exact copy of Woodward's A Country Piazza and it was published in the New York Herald much to the consternation of RSW. Letters flew to all concerned. The painting was by this time owned by Bartlett Arkell, purchased through the Macbeth Gallery in NYC. Below is quoted a copy of a letter to RSW from Mr. Arkell following his knowing of the "pilfering".
Ten East Fortieth Street
New York, N.Y.
April 21, 1938
Mr. Robert Strong Woodward
Shelburne Falls, Mass.
Dear Mr. Woodward:
I am so sorry to read the story of your many ailments. It has been a very hard winter for you and I realize it and offer you sincere sympathy.
And to add to all your physical suffering is the mental suffering that has been inflicted upon you by one who has apparently pilfered your work. I am going to show your letter today to Robert Macbeth and afterward see that my good friend Royal Cortissoz sees it, and then we may have a suggestion to offer you that may solve the difficulty.
I trust that your condition will be such that when blithe June comes our way you will be well enough and interested enough to make a Rochester trip subject, of course, to the conditions which you make, all of which our company will take into very thorough and complete consideration.
Since starting this letter, I have talked with Robert Macbeth about this matter of Whorf, on the telephone, and he tells me he has a habit of this and that he copied exactly one of Winslow Homer's fine pictures quite recently.
Sincerely yours.
(signed) Bartlett Arkell
On several occasions Mr. Arkell attempted to persuade Mr. Woodward to come out to New York and paint a field of vegetables which could be used commercially to advertise his products, especially the baby foods he produced in his factory. He had in mind especially a field of ripe tomatoes which he felt would be especially appropriate.
RSW thought this idea was absolutely ridiculous. He was a painter of New England, not New York, of maple trees and hay fields, not of tomato fields and baby food canneries. Despite repeated requests and offers to make temporary living quarters for him and his attendants, RSW always thought up some excuse or other to refuse his offer.
Below is a copy of a letter from Mr. Arkell again inviting him to paint a consignment oil in New York of a field of ripe tomatoes.
Shelburne Falls, Mass.
Dear Mr. Woodward:
Whenever I look at the beautiful picture which is in my sons conference room (an early corn field in Vermont) I feel almost as if I had been taken out into the country, and it has been suggested to me that possibly you might be willing to paint for us a few pictures this coming fall. In a certain sense they would be commercial pictures, but I do not want them to appear as commercial pictures.
We are deeply interested in baby foods and it has occurred to me that in some of the picturesque localities where we still grow baby foods we might find that it would be possible for you to make a very attractive picture, and while tomatoes are not to be classed as baby foods, it has also occurred to me that a real tomato field has never been painted as yet. Our tomatoes are grown in the neighborhood of Rochester, New York. Would it be possible or would the journey be altogether too long and too exhausting for you to consider a trip there at the height of the season?
I hope you will bear the suggestion kindly and in the spirit that I intend it to be. The size of the pictures for commercial purposes and reproduction would be in the neighborhood of two by three and one-half feet, that is somewhat along the lines of the enclosed slip.
I trust that you have had a better winter than I have had., We went to Miami Beach for a vacation and I was sick in the hospital almost a week and for four or five weeks made my hotel room a hospital room. It was my first and only sinus attack and I hope to never have another one.
Today, with Bob Mcintyre and Bob Macbeth, I am to look at some of the fine drawings which have been loaned by Cooper Union to the University Club. I only regret you are not to be here with us to enjoy them. I had almost forgotten to say that the drawings are by Winslow Homer. It does not do to fail to mention his name. Does it?
And the next street to our home, namely at the Whitney Museum, there is a very fine collection of Frank Duveneck's portraits which I hope to see within the next day or two, the show having started yesterday. I secured a very beautiful Duveneck for the Canajoharie Art Gallery, so that now our collection is almost entirely complete.
Kindest regards to you from myself, and, of course, Mrs. Arkell.
Sincerely yours,
(signed) Bartlett Arkell
Ten East Fortieth Street
New York, N. Y.
Manchester, Vermont
August 19, 1938
Mr. Robert Strong Woodward
Shelburne Falls
Massachusetts
Dear Mr. Woodward:
I was so sorry that the telephone connection was so poor. It apparently worked on opposites. I tried to say that Mr. Harry Barder, who has charge of growing of vegetables for the Beechnut Packing Company, will be in Rochester all of next week and he will set as a very intelligent and faithful guide for you, showing you the different fields that we wish to appear later on in oils. He is a college man and knows far more than his onions. Personally I will be greatly interested in what you say regarding what you see in the tomato fields. I hope the days will be pleasant for you.
It is about 100 miles from here to Canajoharie and I hope you will spend the night there with your attendants, as my guest, visit the art gallery and shake hands with my brother in law, Mr. F. E. Barbose in the Beechnut plant.
I am sending to Mr. Barbose a copy of this letter and I trust that your trip will be enjoyable and profitable for both your good self and the Beechnut Packing Company.
Cordially yours,
(signed) Bartlett Arkell
MLP
2007
In 1938 the noted water color artist John Whorf painted a nearly exact copy of Woodward's A Country Piazza and it was published in the New York Herald much to the consternation of RSW. Letters flew to all concerned. The painting was by this time owned by Bartlett Arkell, purchased through the Macbeth Gallery in NYC. Below is quoted a copy of a letter to RSW from Mr. Arkell following his knowing of the "pilfering".
Bartlett Arkell
Ten East Fortieth Street
New York, N.Y.
April 21, 1938
Mr. Robert Strong Woodward
Shelburne Falls, Mass.
Dear Mr. Woodward:
I am so sorry to read the story of your many ailments. It has been a very hard winter for you and I realize it and offer you sincere sympathy.
And to add to all your physical suffering is the mental suffering that has been inflicted upon you by one who has apparently pilfered your work. I am going to show your letter today to Robert Macbeth and afterward see that my good friend Royal Cortissoz sees it, and then we may have a suggestion to offer you that may solve the difficulty.
I trust that your condition will be such that when blithe June comes our way you will be well enough and interested enough to make a Rochester trip subject, of course, to the conditions which you make, all of which our company will take into very thorough and complete consideration.
Since starting this letter, I have talked with Robert Macbeth about this matter of Whorf, on the telephone, and he tells me he has a habit of this and that he copied exactly one of Winslow Homer's fine pictures quite recently.
Sincerely yours.
(signed) Bartlett Arkell
On several occasions Mr. Arkell attempted to persuade Mr. Woodward to come out to New York and paint a field of vegetables which could be used commercially to advertise his products, especially the baby foods he produced in his factory. He had in mind especially a field of ripe tomatoes which he felt would be especially appropriate.
RSW thought this idea was absolutely ridiculous. He was a painter of New England, not New York, of maple trees and hay fields, not of tomato fields and baby food canneries. Despite repeated requests and offers to make temporary living quarters for him and his attendants, RSW always thought up some excuse or other to refuse his offer.
Below is a copy of a letter from Mr. Arkell again inviting him to paint a consignment oil in New York of a field of ripe tomatoes.
Beechnut letterhead
Mr. Robert Woodward
Shelburne Falls, Mass.
Dear Mr. Woodward:
Whenever I look at the beautiful picture which is in my sons conference room (an early corn field in Vermont) I feel almost as if I had been taken out into the country, and it has been suggested to me that possibly you might be willing to paint for us a few pictures this coming fall. In a certain sense they would be commercial pictures, but I do not want them to appear as commercial pictures.
We are deeply interested in baby foods and it has occurred to me that in some of the picturesque localities where we still grow baby foods we might find that it would be possible for you to make a very attractive picture, and while tomatoes are not to be classed as baby foods, it has also occurred to me that a real tomato field has never been painted as yet. Our tomatoes are grown in the neighborhood of Rochester, New York. Would it be possible or would the journey be altogether too long and too exhausting for you to consider a trip there at the height of the season?
I hope you will bear the suggestion kindly and in the spirit that I intend it to be. The size of the pictures for commercial purposes and reproduction would be in the neighborhood of two by three and one-half feet, that is somewhat along the lines of the enclosed slip.
I trust that you have had a better winter than I have had., We went to Miami Beach for a vacation and I was sick in the hospital almost a week and for four or five weeks made my hotel room a hospital room. It was my first and only sinus attack and I hope to never have another one.
Today, with Bob Mcintyre and Bob Macbeth, I am to look at some of the fine drawings which have been loaned by Cooper Union to the University Club. I only regret you are not to be here with us to enjoy them. I had almost forgotten to say that the drawings are by Winslow Homer. It does not do to fail to mention his name. Does it?
And the next street to our home, namely at the Whitney Museum, there is a very fine collection of Frank Duveneck's portraits which I hope to see within the next day or two, the show having started yesterday. I secured a very beautiful Duveneck for the Canajoharie Art Gallery, so that now our collection is almost entirely complete.
Kindest regards to you from myself, and, of course, Mrs. Arkell.
Sincerely yours,
(signed) Bartlett Arkell
Bartlett Arkell
Ten East Fortieth Street
New York, N. Y.
Manchester, Vermont
August 19, 1938
Mr. Robert Strong Woodward
Shelburne Falls
Massachusetts
Dear Mr. Woodward:
I was so sorry that the telephone connection was so poor. It apparently worked on opposites. I tried to say that Mr. Harry Barder, who has charge of growing of vegetables for the Beechnut Packing Company, will be in Rochester all of next week and he will set as a very intelligent and faithful guide for you, showing you the different fields that we wish to appear later on in oils. He is a college man and knows far more than his onions. Personally I will be greatly interested in what you say regarding what you see in the tomato fields. I hope the days will be pleasant for you.
It is about 100 miles from here to Canajoharie and I hope you will spend the night there with your attendants, as my guest, visit the art gallery and shake hands with my brother in law, Mr. F. E. Barbose in the Beechnut plant.
I am sending to Mr. Barbose a copy of this letter and I trust that your trip will be enjoyable and profitable for both your good self and the Beechnut Packing Company.
Cordially yours,
(signed) Bartlett Arkell
MLP
2007