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Thomas McIlworth, “Jeremias Van Rensselaer” (after conservation), circa 1763, oil on canvas, 30 by 25 inches. Albany Institute of History and Art, gift of Stephen Van Rensselaer Ulman.

FOR 4-11

FRAMING COLONIAL ALBANY AT CLARK ART INSTITUTE

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WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. — “Framing Colonial Albany,” an exhibition of three works on view at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute beginning April 12, highlights the findings of a yearlong conservation project exploring itinerant painter Thomas McIlworth, his painting “Jeremias Van Rensselaer” and its elaborate frame.

In addition to showcasing the conservation efforts, this project uncovers curious similarities with the frame belonging to a Thomas Gainsborough work and the international connection of a Scottish artist painting members of a prominent Dutch family on British canvas in colonial America. “Framing Colonial Albany,” will be on view till July 6.

Over the past year, 2008 Lenett Fellow Katherine Alcauskas worked with conservators from the Williamstown Art Conservation Center (WACC) researching an Eighteenth Century portrait of a member of one of Albany, N.Y.’s founding families — the Van Rensselaers.

“Jeremias Van Rensselaer,” an oil on canvas dating to 1763, was recently given to the Albany Institute of History and Art (AIHA). A visiting scholar at the AIHA noticed the similarity between this painting’s frame and another in AIHA’s collection, the portrait “Barbara, Lady Mostyn” by Thomas Gainsborough.

This project investigates the nearly identical original frames of Gainsborough’s and McIlworth’s paintings; conveys the method of frame production and gilding; explores the international relationship of the frame, canvas, artists and sitters; along with detailing the process of conservation undertaken on the portrait of Jeremias Van Rensselaer. “Barbara, Lady Mostyn” by Gainsborough, along with the portrait of “Stephen Van Rensselaer II” (cousin of Jeremias) by McIlworth, both belonging to the AIHA, will also be on display.

McIlworth (active 1757–1769), whose grandfather, William Mosman, was one of the great portrait painters of Eighteenth Century Scotland, immigrated to New York City in 1757. He worked in New York for five years, occasionally advertising his skills as a portrait painter in local newspapers, such as the New York Mercury and the New-York Gazette.

In 1762, McIlworth began traveling through the Hudson Valley, painting prominent landowners. While in Albany, McIlworth painted many portraits of members of the city’s leading families — the Van Rensselaers, the Schuylers and the Ten Broecks. It is the time McIlworth spent in Albany that is the focus of “Framing Colonial Albany.”

On Wednesday, May 7, at 5:30 pm, Alcauskas will present a lecture at the Clark on “Framing Colonial Albany” and on being a Lenett Fellow. Admission to the lecture is free. The student selected as the Lenett Fellow works with the staff of WACC during his/her second year in the Clark/Williams Graduate Program in the History of Art Program, culminating in a public lecture in the spring.

The Clark is located at 225 South Street. For information, www.clarkart.edu or 413-458-2303.