The Hyde Collection recently announced an exciting new addition to their already extensive group of works: Lake George by John Marin.
A watercolor painting of a view from Bolton Landing, created by Marin in 1928, was purchased by the Hyde Collection at the Sotheby’s auction house on June 9th. The buying of the work was supported by the Charles R. Wood Acquisition Foundation, and it’s the first significant purchase by The Hyde in a generation.
“Historically, The Hyde has relied on gifts of art, whether through bequest or donation, to grow the collection,” Erin Coe, Director of The Hyde said in a statement. “The purchase of this extraordinary Marin watercolor marks a turning point. We strategically identified a work of art that fills a gap in our collection, and we used our acquisitions fund to secure it.”
Lake George is the first work of Marin’s to be entered into the permanent collection. Marin was best known for his creative watercolors. His work can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, Blanton Museum of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Although born in New Jersey, Marin was based mostly in New York State and Maine. He loved being outdoors and often included mountains and water in his work. Lake George was created during an impressionable period in the artist’s career, when he was moving away from the naturalism of his earlier work and taking on a more modernist, cubist-influenced style.
“This watercolor is particularly appropriate for the collection, as it greatly strengthens our holdings of American modernism that include an Arthur Dove watercolor and two works on paper by Abraham Walkowitz, both of whom were also members of the Stieglitz circle,” Jonathan Canning, The Hyde’s Curator said in a statement.
Marin actually completed nine watercolors of Lake George, mostly while he was visiting friends – fellow artist Georgia O’Keeffe and photographer Alfred Stieglitz – at their lakeside retreat known as “the Hill.”
Two of the Lake George works are in the Rhode Island School of Design Museum and The Weatherspoon Museum of Art; the others are in private hands, except for one, of which the whereabouts are unknown.
You can see Lake George at The Hyde Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10am to 5pm, or between 12pm and 5pm on Sundays.
The Hyde in Glens Falls is an exceptional small art museum with nearly 4,000 prominent works that span centuries and mediums.
