Fred G. Quimby Painting Exhibit
Opening Reception Sunday August 7, 2016 1:00-4:00 pm
Exhibit dates August 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, and 16 at 1:00-4:00 pm
August 13 at 10:00-2:00 pm
August 14 at 2:00-4:00 pm
August 19 at 4:00-7:00 pm
Location: Mt. Israel Grange Hall, 36 Maple Street, Center Sandwich, NH
Sandwich Historical Society, as part of its summer theme of Old Highways: North Sandwich to the Notch, is celebrating native son and artist, Fred George Quimby (1863-1923), with an exhibit at the Society’s Mt. Israel Grange Hall. Sandwich residents and cousins, Betsy Leiper and Lee Quimby, are honoring their grandfather by presenting this show of Quimby’s works. Many of the over 40 portraits and landscapes have rarely been viewed, as they remain in the extended family’s private collections.
Although Quimby left Sandwich in his twenties to pursue a successful career in Boston as a portrait artist, he returned often to paint for pleasure the Sandwich landscapes he knew so well. In 1919, Quimby's principal landscape painting was one of Mt. Whiteface. Fifteen years later, author Cornelius Weygandt would describe it as “One of the Seven Wonders of Sandwich."
One of Quimby’s earliest landscapes is a painting of the Cold River in North Sandwich. His earliest known signed and dated work was produced in1908. A self-portrait, it is a fine example of his earliest known work in portraiture. Both are on view as are some of the Quimby paintings in the collection of the Sandwich Historical Society.
Paintings intended for exhibition were usually undated. The label on the back of Sandwich Dome in the Fall documents that it had been exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Some paintings were neither signed nor dated. These were often smaller, quick studies from which he would paint larger canvases. Later he would give these studies to friends and family. When the gift was intended for a wedding or special occasion, however, Quimby would sign and date the work, as he did in Plummer's Mill Pond which he presented to his cousin, Sarah Quimby, in 1911 as a wedding gift. By The Bearcamp was also a wedding gift, presented to Mary Wentworth Hoyt in 1915. Numerous studies or sketches in oils were painted on old panels, shingles or even bottoms of discarded drawers, like the one used in Sandwich Sunset.
The largest-known painting attributed to Quimby hangs in the Society’s Mt. Israel Grange Hall and is the centerpiece of the exhibit. On the second floor is a stage almost the width of the hall. At the front of the stage hangs a full-size canvas curtain on which Quimby painted a sweeping, backlit view of Mt. Israel from the Bearcamp River bridge on Mt. Israel Road. In the middle ground is the Daniel Atwood House (now Papen) and in the foreground is a solitary woman by the bridge gazing at the view. Allegedly, the figure Quimby painted was that of his childhood sweetheart, Belle Forbush. The curtain has recently been restored and is a rare treat to see.
In 1891 Quimby married Della Sawtelle of Wisconsin, and the couple made West Somerville, Massachusetts their home. Three children were born to them: Ralph Harrison (1892), Arthur Edmund (1893), and Betsy Lucile (1896). The family connection to Sandwich came full circle when the son of Arthur and the daughter of B. Lucile moved back to Sandwich as adults to become most valuable contributors to the community: Lee as Moderator of both the Town of Sandwich and the Inter-Lakes School District; and Betsy as needlework teacher and longtime innkeeper of Strathaven B &B.
SHS and the Quimbys are hosting an opening reception at the Grange Hall on Sunday, August 7th from 1:00-4:00 pm with refreshments and many of the extended family in attendance. The exhibit hours on August 7, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16 are 1:00-4:00; on Saturday, August 13 from 10:00-2:00 and Sunday, August 14 from 2:00-4:00 following the SHS Picnic. After viewing the exhibit people are encouraged to explore Sandwich to take a current photo of the scenes Fred Quimby painted 100 years ago, then email the photo to sandwichhistory@gmail.com.
Exhibit dates August 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, and 16 at 1:00-4:00 pm
August 13 at 10:00-2:00 pm
August 14 at 2:00-4:00 pm
August 19 at 4:00-7:00 pm
Location: Mt. Israel Grange Hall, 36 Maple Street, Center Sandwich, NH
Sandwich Historical Society, as part of its summer theme of Old Highways: North Sandwich to the Notch, is celebrating native son and artist, Fred George Quimby (1863-1923), with an exhibit at the Society’s Mt. Israel Grange Hall. Sandwich residents and cousins, Betsy Leiper and Lee Quimby, are honoring their grandfather by presenting this show of Quimby’s works. Many of the over 40 portraits and landscapes have rarely been viewed, as they remain in the extended family’s private collections.
Although Quimby left Sandwich in his twenties to pursue a successful career in Boston as a portrait artist, he returned often to paint for pleasure the Sandwich landscapes he knew so well. In 1919, Quimby's principal landscape painting was one of Mt. Whiteface. Fifteen years later, author Cornelius Weygandt would describe it as “One of the Seven Wonders of Sandwich."
One of Quimby’s earliest landscapes is a painting of the Cold River in North Sandwich. His earliest known signed and dated work was produced in1908. A self-portrait, it is a fine example of his earliest known work in portraiture. Both are on view as are some of the Quimby paintings in the collection of the Sandwich Historical Society.
Paintings intended for exhibition were usually undated. The label on the back of Sandwich Dome in the Fall documents that it had been exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Some paintings were neither signed nor dated. These were often smaller, quick studies from which he would paint larger canvases. Later he would give these studies to friends and family. When the gift was intended for a wedding or special occasion, however, Quimby would sign and date the work, as he did in Plummer's Mill Pond which he presented to his cousin, Sarah Quimby, in 1911 as a wedding gift. By The Bearcamp was also a wedding gift, presented to Mary Wentworth Hoyt in 1915. Numerous studies or sketches in oils were painted on old panels, shingles or even bottoms of discarded drawers, like the one used in Sandwich Sunset.
The largest-known painting attributed to Quimby hangs in the Society’s Mt. Israel Grange Hall and is the centerpiece of the exhibit. On the second floor is a stage almost the width of the hall. At the front of the stage hangs a full-size canvas curtain on which Quimby painted a sweeping, backlit view of Mt. Israel from the Bearcamp River bridge on Mt. Israel Road. In the middle ground is the Daniel Atwood House (now Papen) and in the foreground is a solitary woman by the bridge gazing at the view. Allegedly, the figure Quimby painted was that of his childhood sweetheart, Belle Forbush. The curtain has recently been restored and is a rare treat to see.
In 1891 Quimby married Della Sawtelle of Wisconsin, and the couple made West Somerville, Massachusetts their home. Three children were born to them: Ralph Harrison (1892), Arthur Edmund (1893), and Betsy Lucile (1896). The family connection to Sandwich came full circle when the son of Arthur and the daughter of B. Lucile moved back to Sandwich as adults to become most valuable contributors to the community: Lee as Moderator of both the Town of Sandwich and the Inter-Lakes School District; and Betsy as needlework teacher and longtime innkeeper of Strathaven B &B.
SHS and the Quimbys are hosting an opening reception at the Grange Hall on Sunday, August 7th from 1:00-4:00 pm with refreshments and many of the extended family in attendance. The exhibit hours on August 7, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16 are 1:00-4:00; on Saturday, August 13 from 10:00-2:00 and Sunday, August 14 from 2:00-4:00 following the SHS Picnic. After viewing the exhibit people are encouraged to explore Sandwich to take a current photo of the scenes Fred Quimby painted 100 years ago, then email the photo to sandwichhistory@gmail.com.