Children Picking Flowers
Description
The planting and harvesting of crops and hay during the summer and fall provided a wealth of visual material for Theodore Wendel’s brush, but he was also drawn to the leisurely aspects of Ipswich, as seen in Children Picking Flowers where he uses his impressionist technique to capture the hazy atmosphere of the marsh with soft brushstrokes and a muted earth-tones palette. The most vivid spots of color in the scene, that of the children’s clothing and in the flower bed at right, immediately catch one’s eyes and these elements are smartly framed by the tall tress flaking the composition, yet Wendel also uses a series of horizontal and diagonal devices to lead the viewer into and through the landscape to the gently sloping hills in the distance. Children appeared often in Wendel’s landscapes painted at Ipswich, including at times his own daughter Mary and son Daniel, with the element of youth enhancing the idyllic charm that comes from life in the country.
Provenance
Inscriptions
Labels
- R. H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois / W-172/9808 / Theodore Wendel / oil on canvas: 25 x 30 inches / unsigned / CHILDREN PICKING FLOWERS
- R. H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois / SUGAR AND SPICE: Depictions of Girls in / American Painting 1850-1925 / CHILDREN NEAR HAYSTACKS / by / Theodore Wendel /1 May – 3 July 1993
- The Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach / The Genteel Tradition in American Painting / January 15, 1999 through March 21, 1999 / Theodore Wendel / CHILDREN PICKING FLOWERS 1900 / oil on canvas / GT 99.19
- R. H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois / The Marshall Collection / Exhibition / December 4, 1999 – January 31, 2000
- Peoria Riverfront Museum / L14.2014.39 / Wendell (sic), Theodore M. / Children Piking Flowers / 1906 o/c / Marshall
Exhibitions
- Sugar and Spice: Depictions of Girls in American Painting 1850-1905, R. H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, May 1 – July 3, 1993
- The Genteel Tradition in American Painting, R. H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, February 14 – March 28, 1998 (exhibit later traveled to the Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach, Florida, January 15 – March 21, 1999)
- The Marshall Collection Exhibition, R. H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, December 4, 1999 – January 31, 2000
Literature
Condition
Very good. The painting was recently cleaned and lined to address stress cracking and stretcher bar lines. There are minor spots of in-paint in the center sky and in the sky between the right tree branches, a few clusters of specks of in-paint among the children and near the center haybale, and two small spots in the foreground.
Frame Details
Description
The planting and harvesting of crops and hay during the summer and fall provided a wealth of visual material for Theodore Wendel’s brush, but he was also drawn to the leisurely aspects of Ipswich, as seen in Children Picking Flowers where he uses his impressionist technique to capture the hazy atmosphere of the marsh with soft brushstrokes and a muted earth-tones palette. The most vivid spots of color in the scene, that of the children’s clothing and in the flower bed at right, immediately catch one’s eyes and these elements are smartly framed by the tall tress flaking the composition, yet Wendel also uses a series of horizontal and diagonal devices to lead the viewer into and through the landscape to the gently sloping hills in the distance. Children appeared often in Wendel’s landscapes painted at Ipswich, including at times his own daughter Mary and son Daniel, with the element of youth enhancing the idyllic charm that comes from life in the country.
Provenance
Inscriptions
Labels
- R. H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois / W-172/9808 / Theodore Wendel / oil on canvas: 25 x 30 inches / unsigned / CHILDREN PICKING FLOWERS
- R. H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois / SUGAR AND SPICE: Depictions of Girls in / American Painting 1850-1925 / CHILDREN NEAR HAYSTACKS / by / Theodore Wendel /1 May – 3 July 1993
- The Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach / The Genteel Tradition in American Painting / January 15, 1999 through March 21, 1999 / Theodore Wendel / CHILDREN PICKING FLOWERS 1900 / oil on canvas / GT 99.19
- R. H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois / The Marshall Collection / Exhibition / December 4, 1999 – January 31, 2000
- Peoria Riverfront Museum / L14.2014.39 / Wendell (sic), Theodore M. / Children Piking Flowers / 1906 o/c / Marshall
Exhibitions
- Sugar and Spice: Depictions of Girls in American Painting 1850-1905, R. H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, May 1 – July 3, 1993
- The Genteel Tradition in American Painting, R. H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, February 14 – March 28, 1998 (exhibit later traveled to the Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach, Florida, January 15 – March 21, 1999)
- The Marshall Collection Exhibition, R. H. Love Galleries, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, December 4, 1999 – January 31, 2000
Literature
Condition
Very good. The painting was recently cleaned and lined to address stress cracking and stretcher bar lines. There are minor spots of in-paint in the center sky and in the sky between the right tree branches, a few clusters of specks of in-paint among the children and near the center haybale, and two small spots in the foreground.
