Overview

One Hundred Stories celebrates one hundred paintings, sculptures, works on paper, and decorative arts in Washington County Museum of Fine Arts (WCMFA) in Hagerstown, Maryland. The museum opened in 1931 with a small but very fine collection, and was the product of the unique vision and generosity of a remarkable woman, Anna Brugh Singer. A native of Hagerstown, in 1895 Anna had married William H. Singer Jr., a Pittsburgh native, and the son of a partner of the steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. William was a gifted painter, and by 1900 he had decided to pursue his calling in Europe. Anna Singer provided the dream to form a museum for the betterment of her hometown; William Singer offered the financial backing and the sense of obligation to build. For Anna Singer, providing the Museum was an extraordinary act of devotion to and rememberance of her home community. In common with the patrons of other, similar museums created in the United States, she and her husband both sahred a desire to bring cultural opportunities to American citizens and to provide them with a chance to experience works of art of high quality at firsthand. Since its opening over 70 years ago, the Museum has grown and now assumes its role as the region's versatile cultural center. This development has been matched by directors and trustees who have added to the collection through purchases and generous gifts. This book reveals the Museum's strengths and variety, with short entries by scholars on each object that discuss the work's place in the career of its creator, in the historical context of its period, and in art history. Among the artworks presented here are major examples by leading American 18th - and 19th - century artists. The collection of decorative arts at WCMFA has grown significantly over the last decade, with the addition of premier examples of glassmaking, including fine exmaples of French Moderne and Art Deco glass by Rene Lalique and Ruben Haley. AUTHOR: Elizabeth Johns, Professor Emerita, University of Pennsylvania, is the author, most recently, of Winslow Homer: The Nature of Observation. Sarah Cantor is a Ph.D candidate at the University of Maryland. Margaret Dameron is Curatorial Co-ordinator of the WCMFA. Alan Fern is Director Emeritus of the National Portrait Gallery. Angela S. George is a Ph.D candidate and the University of Maryland and Lecturer in the Decorativee Arts at the Corcoran College of Art and Design. Mary L. Pixley was the Samuel H. Kress Foundation Curatorial Fellow at the WCMFA in 2005-6 and is noe=w Associate Curator for European and American Art, Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri - Columbia. Joseph Ruzicka was Director of the WCMFA 2004-7. Ann Prentice Wagner is Curator of the WCMFA. SELLING POINTS: A beautifully illustrated survey of six centuries of art from one of the finest collections in the northeast United States Features some of the leading names in 19th- and 20th-century art including Albert Bierstadt,Thomas Birch, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Cole, Childe Hassam, Robert Henri, Joshua Johnson, George Luks, Willard Metcalf, Thomas Moran and Charles Willson Peale. Presents colour plates, with captions, of 100 of the Museum's most important artworks from its holdings of American, European and decorative art 120 colour & 15 b/w illustrations

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9781904832546

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Elizabeth Johns is Professor Emerita, University of Pennsylvania; Sarah Canto is a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland; Margaret Dameron is Curatorial Coordinator at the WCMFA;Alan Fern is Professor Emeritus at the National Portrait Gallery; Angela S. George is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Maryland and Lecturer in Decorative Arts at the Corcoran College of Art and Design; Mary L. Pixley was the Samuel H. Kress Foundation Curatorial Fellow at the WCMFA and is now Associate Curator for European and American Art Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia; Joseph Ruzicka was Director of the WCMFA 2004-07, Ann Prentice-Wagner is Curator at the WCMFA.

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