Old South Meeting House, Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts
Signed and dated lower right: E. Meneghelli 1879
Description
Meneghelli’s skilled precision can be found in his charming outdoor scenes of the rapidly expanding city, as seen in Old South Meeting House, Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts. Built in 1729 and now celebrated as the second oldest church in Boston (after Old North in the North End), the Old South Meeting House served many purposes over its history: a place of worship, a town hall, and site of vociferous debate over the tea tax and subsequent planning of the Boston Tea Party in December 1773.
The historic building now hosts a permanent exhibition to the city’s storied past; it survived revolution, conflagration (in the form of the Great Boston Fire of 1872), and near ruination, and now endures as a beacon of the freedom of expression for which the American colonists fought so dearly.
Provenance
Private collection, New Hampshire
To private dealer, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
With Vose Galleries, Boston, inventory no. 33392, September 2000
To private collection, Ardmore, Pennsylvania, December 2003 to present
Inscriptions
Labels
- Previous Vose Galleries label, inventory no. 33392
- Old Frost & Adams label on top stretcher
Exhibitions
Our Best to You, Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts, January 15 – March 15, 2002 (illus. in exhibition catalogue, p. 25)
Literature
Weinberg, H. Barbara, Childe Hassam, American Impressionist (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004), illus. p. 298, in Erica Hirshler’s essay, “Hassam and American Architecture”
Condition
Very good. The painting is lined. There is some in-paint in the sky, the most notable being an L-shaped repair at left, a few small areas in the center right sky adjacent to the buildings, and spots at the top edge. Remaining in-paint in sky consists of sparsely scattered specks, thin short lines, and some small spots. There are two small areas of in-paint along the lower frame edge, one at left and one at right, two small spots to the right of the running boy and a few below him, and some brushy spots in the lower right quadrant.
Frame Details
Description
Meneghelli’s skilled precision can be found in his charming outdoor scenes of the rapidly expanding city, as seen in Old South Meeting House, Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts. Built in 1729 and now celebrated as the second oldest church in Boston (after Old North in the North End), the Old South Meeting House served many purposes over its history: a place of worship, a town hall, and site of vociferous debate over the tea tax and subsequent planning of the Boston Tea Party in December 1773.
The historic building now hosts a permanent exhibition to the city’s storied past; it survived revolution, conflagration (in the form of the Great Boston Fire of 1872), and near ruination, and now endures as a beacon of the freedom of expression for which the American colonists fought so dearly.
Provenance
Private collection, New Hampshire
To private dealer, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
With Vose Galleries, Boston, inventory no. 33392, September 2000
To private collection, Ardmore, Pennsylvania, December 2003 to present
Inscriptions
Labels
- Previous Vose Galleries label, inventory no. 33392
- Old Frost & Adams label on top stretcher
Exhibitions
Our Best to You, Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts, January 15 – March 15, 2002 (illus. in exhibition catalogue, p. 25)
Literature
Weinberg, H. Barbara, Childe Hassam, American Impressionist (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2004), illus. p. 298, in Erica Hirshler’s essay, “Hassam and American Architecture”
Condition
Very good. The painting is lined. There is some in-paint in the sky, the most notable being an L-shaped repair at left, a few small areas in the center right sky adjacent to the buildings, and spots at the top edge. Remaining in-paint in sky consists of sparsely scattered specks, thin short lines, and some small spots. There are two small areas of in-paint along the lower frame edge, one at left and one at right, two small spots to the right of the running boy and a few below him, and some brushy spots in the lower right quadrant.
