Clockwise: “Promenade” oil by Linda Maletz, “Resolute” oil by Holly Bedrosian, and “Linwood Street Gardens” oil by Adrienne Landry

May 9 to June 27, 2009

Presented by the
Whistler House Museum of Art

It is rare that a museum director has the opportunity to present a career retrospective exhibition for an artist and say that he has know that artist for well over 30 years.  This is the case with the Whistler House Museum of Art’s next exhibition; Anne D. Sullivan ~ A Retrospective. 

I first met Mrs. Sullivan, (I always referred to her as Mrs. Sullivan) when I attended Lowell High School with her daughter, Lianne.  I met Lianne in our sophomore year when we sang in the school’s chorus together.  We were also in several musical plays together and spent most of our free time just hanging out with our other friends. Going to the Sullivan house to pick up Lianne for a night of goofing off was always interesting because of her mother, Mrs. Sullivan. 

Mrs. Sullivan would greet us at the front door and welcome us into the house while we waited for to Lianne to get ready.  Each time I went into the house there was a new piece of art hanging on the wall or on a table being wrapped for shipment to an exhibit somewhere in the world.  I remember one particular piece that Mrs. Sullivan had completed.  It was a portrait of an old man done in a monochromatic palette that hung in the family room.  I was quite taken with this piece and each time I was in that room I always had to have a good look at it.  I don’t really know what drew me to this piece, perhaps it was the lines, the shape of the head or maybe I thought the old guy reminded me of someone I knew.  Anyway, I really liked this piece and knowing the artist who had created it made it all that more special. 

I was not a student artist and I did not take any art classes in high school. Much of what I  learned about art at that time, came from my conversations with Mrs. Sullivan.  She would always take the time to talk with her children’s friends and explain the process of creating a piece of art.  Going into the Sullivan house was like having your own private museum or gallery tour.  There was always something new and exciting to see. 

During our high school and college years Lianne and I remained friends.  Mrs. Sullivan continued to pursue her career in art as she explored different techniques and developed her own unique style.   As always, if you asked about a specific piece of work, Mrs. Sullivan was more than happy to talk about her latest efforts. 

I remember going to my first art exhibit reception in a gallery in Lexington, Massachusetts.  Mrs. Sullivan was exhibiting a collection of her work.  At that time, I had never been to an art exhibit in a professional gallery.  I certainly had never known a professional artist.  Mrs. Sullivan was a member of the Copley Society. I wasn’t really sure what that meant, but it seemed like a big deal to everyone at the reception. Walking about the gallery it became clear that Mrs. Sullivan was really good at what she did, people were buying her paintings and everyone seemed very excited to be there.  Her paintings looked somehow different in the gallery; they appeared to jump off the wall, to be more luminescent.  Of course looking back at that exhibit now, it could have been as simple as good lighting.  Up until that time, I had only seen Mrs. Sullivan’s work in her kitchen, dining room, or family room. 

After college, Lianne and I went our separate ways and I didn’t see Mrs. Sullivan quite as much as I had before.  I knew that she was still painting and that she was exhibiting her work all over the country and in a few foreign countries as well.  I would sometimes read an article in the local paper about her work and so I was able to keep up with her. 

Jump ahead about 25 years or so, and suddenly I find myself in the position of Executive Director of the Whistler House Museum of Art.  I had served as a member of the Board of Trustees for several years and had learned at that time that Mrs. Sullivan had been a past President of the Lowell Art Association which owns and operates the museum as an historical site.  Here was another connection to my old friend’s mother, Mrs. Sullivan. 

One day while I was at the museum the telephone rang and it was Mrs. Sullivan.  She wanted to talk about some things that had recently been going on in the local art community.  At one point in our conversation, after referring to her yet again, as Mrs. Sullivan, she said, “Michael, I think it is about time you called me Anne, after all we are colleagues now.”  Colleagues… Mrs. Sullivan… I mean, Anne…  Anne and I are colleagues. I had never thought of her as anything other than my friend Lianne’s mother. Now she was a colleague and we were having a professional conversation about things that really mattered to the two of us.  It was the start of a new chapter in our lives. 

Throughout the past few years, I have had many conversations with Anne.  We have spoken about the museum, exhibits, art work in the Permanent Collection, and all manner of things related to the art scene.  We have attended the same art receptions and been in each others company at social events.  Anne and I have become more than colleagues, we are friends who share something that is important to each of us. 

About two years ago as we were putting together the exhibit schedule, Anne’s name came up for a possible retrospective exhibit.  I realized then that Anne and I had known each other for over 30 years and in all that time she has continued to pursue her work.  It is a great pleasure for me to be able to present Anne D. Sullivan ~ A Retrospective, in the Parker Gallery.  I never thought back in the 1970’s while I spoke with Mrs. Sullivan in her kitchen about her art work that I would be in the position to present a retrospective exhibit for my friend and colleague, Anne D. Sullivan. 

Anne D. Sullivan holds Signature Memberships in the International Society of Experimental Artists, National Association of Women Artists, National League of American Pen Women, New England Watercolor Society, Copley Society of Boston - Copley Artist, Florida Artist’s Group Inc., Monotype Guild of New England. 

Her Honors include: Who’s Who in American Art, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the East, Who’s Who in American Women.

Selected National Exhibitions include:

North American Open Competition, Boston, MA 
   Outstanding Contemporary Painting
   Hoarty and Grimm memorial Award

International Society of Experimental Artists
    Nautilus Fellow

National Open Competition, RI  Watercolor Society
     Honorable Mentions

Catherine L. Wolfe Art Club, New York City
      American Artist Magazine Award

National Association of Women Artists, New York
      Martha Reed Memorial Award
      Leila Sawyer Memorial Award

National League of American Pen Women, Washington, DC
     Award of Excellence
     Award of Merit

 To see a video about the Whistler House Museum of Art featured on “The Artist’s Loft”, on YouTube visit this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFAuz1WF-3Y

Cape Cod School & Provincetown Artists
April 26 through June 21, 2008
Reception: Saturday, May 3, 2 pm - 4 pm

The Whistler House Museum of Art presents The Cape Cod School and Provincetown Artists in a new exhibition in the Parker Gallery. Featuring nine artists, the exhibit showcases the many diverse styles that have come to signify the art of the Cape Cod School and the artists who call Provincetown their home. Curated by Whistler House Museum of Art Executive Director, Michael H. Lally and assisted by Jim Dyment, Exhibits & Gallery Manager the show is a brilliant display of color and light. Several of the artists in the show are Plein Air Impressionist painters who capture the ever changing light conditions of the Cape using traditional techniques. Each of the featured artists maintains studios or are represented by galleries in Provincetown and the Cape Cod area.

Provincetown, Massachusetts was a quiet fishing village on the tip of Cape Cod at the turn of the Twentieth Century when Charles W. Hawthorne discovered the luminous quality of the light which was favored by the French Impressionists. Hawthorne established the Cape Cod School in 1899, the first American school dedicated to the ideals of Impressionist painting. His reputation as a painter and educator attracted scores of other artists and Provincetown soon became the largest art colony in the world.

Hawthorne and his successor, Henry Hensche are credited with keeping American Impressionism alive in the United States. Today, Provincetown continues to be a destination for artists with galleries and studios lining the many picturesque streets and lanes.

Artists in this exhibit include: Midge Battelle, John Cascio, John Choly, Robert Louis Del Russo, Lynne Foy, Mary Giammarino, Dennis Lucas, Michael Moss, Hilda Neily, and Johniene Papandreas.

Sample paintings from the “Works from the Permanent Collection” Exhibit

Shown here are (top) “Curiousity” by

Arthur P. Spear (1879-1959)

and (bottom) 

Harold C. Dunbar (1882-1953) Bay Farm

Harold C. Dunbar (1882-1953) Pleasant Bay

Charles Demetropoulos (1912-1976) Portrait of My Father

Thomas Bayley Lawson (1807-1888) Jenness Boy

Charles Demetropoulos (1912-1976) Portrait of My Mother

Marion P. Sloane Blue Hill, Red Barn

In the Parker Gallery:

March 1 to April 19, 2008

Reception, March 1 from 2 to 4 PM

In celebration of the centennial of the Whistler Museum of Art, we are proud to feature rarely exhibited works from the permanent collection. These 19th and early 20th century works spotlight some of New England’s outstanding representational artists. Among the artists exhibited are: Charles H. Allen, John I. Coggeshall, Walter L. Dean, Charles Demetropolis, Emile A. Gruppe, Aldro T. Hibbard, Lester G. Hornby, Louis Kronberg, Thomas B. Lawson, David Dalhoff Neal, William McGregor Paxton, William Preston Phelps, Arthur P. Spear, and Sarah Wyman Whitman. Of the names listed above, the work of Thomas Bayley Lawson (1807- 1888), the founder and first president of the Lowell Art Association (LAA), will be displayed twice. One of his works, is his self portrait (1878) – the year the LAA was organized. The other is titled Jenness Boy, which has been on display in the main gallery for a number of years. Lawson was a well known portrait painter, originally from Newburyport, MA.Peter Kostoulakos, a local expert on restoration, will be speaking briefly about restoring art work at the reception. The talk will be followed by a question and answer session.

Michael, Whistler is known as a very important etcher and printmaker as well as a painter. What is etching?
Although he is most famous for his portrait of his mother, artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903) is also acknowledged as the finest etcher since Rembrandt. Etching is an intaglio printing process whereby an artist draws with a steel needle-like instrument into the surface of a copper, zinc or steel plate which has been inked or varnished. The theory of etching is that when the plate is covered with an acid resisting ground it will resist the acid, “biting” the etched lines which make possible a fluid and calligraphic manner of drawing. After the plate has been “bitten” and washed with water, it is ready to be inked and printed. An artist studies the first proof or impression from the press, making subsequent changes, and “pulls” a new series of proofs. The later impressions are called “second states of the print”. Several states can be produced until the final run of impressions is authorized by the artist. From Whistler comes the custom of signing the print in pencil. When the initials and/or signature of an artist are printed simultaneously with each impression, it signifies that each print is “signed in the plate”. Some of the finest treasures of etched prints fall into this category. When time has elapsed between first and subsequent printing, and if no alterations have been made in the plate, they may be “re-issued” and become “restrikes”, although they rarely possess the brilliance of the earlier impressions. Restrikes are considered an original work of art since they are printed from the plate of the first edition, although when considerable time has elapsed dates should be indicated.

How important are Whistler’s etchings?
Whistler (1834-1903) was a major figure in renewing popular interest in intaglio printmaking in Europe during the mid-19th century. He had seen William Hogarth’s prints as a boy living in Russia. Later, Seymour Haden, his brother-in-law, introduced him to the images of Hollar and Rembrandt. Exposure to these old masters acted as a catalyst on Whistler and was partially responsible for his choosing a career as an artist. He learned etching while employed at the U.S. Coast Survey, but only started to use the technique aesthetically after his arrival in Paris in 1855. Over the next quarter century, the artist continued to refine his etching technique. His style evolved from one based on Realism to a more personal aesthetic that revealed his highly adept skills as a printer. Over his lifetime, he produced nearly 450 prints, 20 of which are in our permanent collection and 14 are currently on display.

Are the paintings left on display during private functions?
Yes, the art collection is essential to the elegant settings the WHMA offers for weddings, corporate and other private functions. Imagine having your reception or your corporate sales strategy meeting while surrounded by art treasures and antiques!

What is the background on the Whistler’s statue in the Whistler Sculpture Park?
The statue of James Abbott McNeill Whistler was presented on October 10, 2002, in memory of the artist’s 100th anniversary and the statue’s designer, Mico Kaufman, was honored. A resident of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, Mico’s art is on display throughout the United States and Europe. Some of his most inspiring public works are in Tewksbury and Lowell, including Debussey, the Wamesit Indian, Homage to Women. He is recipient of many artistic awards, including one from the American Numismatic Society. (For more information, visit www.sculpturesbymico.com)

(Sources: Taft Museum, Cincinnati; University of Louisiana Lafayette; Antiques & Art Around Florida, Lorena Overstreet Allen, M.Ed., ISA)