photos came by mail

 

2col well

Robert Emmett Owen, “The New England Well,” oil on canvas, 25¼ by 34 inches.

2col autumn

Robert Emmett Owen, “Early Autumn,” oil on canvas, 24¾ by 30 inches.

2col church

Robert Emmett Owen, “First Congregational Church, Lee, Massachusetts,” oil on canvas, 20¼ by 181/8  inches.

2col gate

Robert Emmett Owen, “The Gate,” oil on canvas, 20¼ by 24 inches.

Stephen Hannock Offers Gallery Talk

At Albany Institute On July 19

Albany Institute Will Present Lecture

‘The Unknown Monet’ On July 25

‘A Taste For Chocolate’ Show

 Beckons At Bruce Museum

(2 col)

Hans G. Fräbel, cacao pod with leaf and branch on base, 1984, hand-blown glass, 10 by 9¼ by 4 inches. Private collection.

must run 7-13

(if you have two of these, use this one… shows as Set, but head was alone…)

‘ROAD LESS TRAVELED’ OPENS AT SPANIERMAN GALLERY JULY 19, 4 CUTS

AVV/GS SET 6-25 #704693

NEW YORK CITY — Spanierman Gallery, LLC will present “The Road Less Traveled: New England Landscapes by Robert Emmett Owen (1878–1957),” an exhibition and sale of 55 paintings by this Impressionist artist who dedicated his career to capturing the beauty and variety of the New England countryside. Opening July 19, the exhibit will be on view through September 1.

In his views of colonial churches, red farmhouses and covered bridges, Owen conveyed the notion of New England as the most quintessentially American region and the preserver of an older, simpler way of life during a period of great social change. At the same time, his images reflect a phenomenon of his own era, the rise to popularity of motorcar touring for the purpose of enjoying the scenic qualities of the American landscape.

During the period from 1910 through the 1940s in which Owen’s career unfolded — and especially during the war years, when Europe was closed to tourists — many guidebooks encouraged Americans to take automobile vacations aimed at seeing the splendor of their own country.

As roads and cars improved, the range of routes and places to visit widened. Taking advantage of such developments, Owen often drove far into New England, stopping his car when a site caught his eye. Taking out his folding easel and painting stool, he would record what he saw from the side of the road.

As in the words of his poet-contemporary Robert Frost, who was also compelled by a deep love of New England, Owen often chose “the road less traveled.” While in his images the turn of the road leads into the distance, the focus is on the landscape before the viewer. Whether the road is visible or not, Owen expresses a bygone ideal of car travel, conveying the pleasure of seeing places in passing without lingering too long or going by too fast.

Owen, who was born in North Adams, Mass., and studied at the Eric Pape School of Art in Boston, began his career as an illustrator for the prominent and popular magazines of his era. He was finally able to paint full-time in 1910, when he settled in Bangall, Conn., now absorbed into a northern section of Stamford.

He moved to New York City in 1920 and three years later opened his own gallery, which he ran in various locations until 1941, when he moved to New Rochelle, N.Y. Owen started his gallery as an experiment, but discovered that the “idea was good since it offered to Americans typically American pictures,” as he recalled. 

His buyers included many entrepreneurs who found calm solace from the pressures of the marketplace in his peaceful images, but he also sold his work to many other individuals who had “tracked through” New England themselves and found that Owen’s painting matched their experiences. As one writer stated, Owen portrayed “the more picturesque aspects of our country just about the way we liked to see it,” while another praised him for depicting “our New England countryside in its most attractive aspects.”

The gallery is at 45 East 58th Street. For information, www.spanierman.com or 212-832-0208.