The Mohawk Valley at Canajoharie, New York
Artist
Edward B. Gay
(American, born Ireland 1837 - 1928)
Date1876
MediumOil on canvas and cardboard with an original frame
DimensionsFramed: 55 x 75 x 4in. (139.7 x 190.5 x 10.2cm)
Overall: 30 x 50in. (76.2 x 127cm)
Overall: 30 x 50in. (76.2 x 127cm)
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Terms
Object number62.32
Description On View
On viewCollections
CopyrightNo known copyright restrictions.
Label TextThis unusual frame, in addition to performing its traditional functions of enhancing and protecting the painting, is also an integral part of the overall composition because of the small landscape views that were inserted into it. Contemporary references to frames are rare, but in a July 13, 1876 article about the unusual design of this frame in the Canajoharie, N.Y. newspaper, The Radii, it was noted that the "artist has conceived a very happy idea in the construction of the frame." A surviving paper label on the back of the frame indicates that it was either made or sold by the "Manufacturer & Importer" Peter J. Ulrich of New York City around 1876. Its bright, gilded surface is presumably original.
Surrounding Gay's large, central scene is a flat, incised frieze with a meander pattern of ivy leaves. Outside this is a row of beads, a cove of acanthus leaves and bellflowers in a textured stipple ground, and a thin band of ribbon and rod decoration. The outer, sanded frieze contains eleven small, seasonal views of the region around Canajoharie, N.Y. Square panels with ornamental strap work decorate the four corners. The medallion at the top of the frame contains the monogrammed initials of Webster Wagner, a New York State Senator and pioneer in the development of railroad sleeping cars, who commissioned Gay to paint the work sometime before the fall of 1875. Gay depicted Wagner's house on the far side of the Mohawk River in the village of Palatine Bridge.
The integration of the small paintings in this frame is a characteristic of post-Civil War American taste known as the American Renaissance. The term was coined by the literary critic and journalist, William C. Brownell (1851-1928). As the United States became more cosmopolitan in the decade after the Civil War, the country's elite aspired to transplant to America the great artistic traditions of Europe, particularly the Italian Renaissance. Artists fostered this taste by creating unified environments in which architecture, sculpture, painting, and the decorative arts were integrated. Gay's frame reflects the artistic ambitions of this era.
Paul D. Schweizer
August 2010
