Last December, I was reading about American artists,
especially women. I ran across a small, 1994 article that appeared in the Hartford Courant (Conn.,) newspaper about
a local, 18th century oil painting sold for $145,000 by Sotheby’s. Its
sale was to benefit the rebuilding fund for the library. The work was considered
rather rare because (1) it was painted
by a woman, Sybil Huntington May (1735-1798), and (2) because it was of a
landscape--not something that was ordinarily painted.
May was an artist in her own right and yes, that was very
uncommon in those days. Women, if they
participated in art at all, usually created embroidery, which would require
some drawing (if not created by handed-down patterns) and color management.
Interestingly, I did find an article regarding one of her early paintings: a portrait of the Duke of Cumberland, England,
done with oil on wood, and completed by Sybil in 1750. She was only 15 years
old when she completed this portrait! [1]
Unfortunately, I could not find the painting online, just a mention of it from the Buffalo Historical Society.
May must have had some sort of following though since a local merchant exhibited her work for sale when she was
young. The story goes that her future husband, Reverend
Eleazer May, was in a shop one day and noticed some small paintings for sale.
He was smitten and wanted to meet the artist. In time they married and with it,
she set aside her brushes and paints to serve the needs of her husband, family
and parish--or at least the tale goes.
But she didn’t put those paints away immediately, because in
1758, after the church and parsonage were built in Haddam, Conn., May took a
wood panel in hand, most likely stepped outside and painted the landscape
before her. The piece is believed to be the first ever American landscape
created by a native-born colonist.
As with many paintings and embroideries of the 18th
century, this painting would grace the space above the fireplace mantel. Many
of them were called over-the-mantel paintings or “overmantels.” If May had
given the painting a name, it has been lost to time, so today it is referred to
as: Connecticut River Flowing Past the
Church at Haddam.
 |
Sibyl Huntington May (1735-1798),
Overmantel Painting, oil on panel, Haddam, CT, c. 1758.
|
As we have learned through this series, landscape painting
was unheard of in the 18th century—historical and portrait paintings
were all the rage. So it’s somewhat unique that not only did a woman paint this
scene, but to be the first to do so in the colonies.
However, according to the Antiques & Fine Arts Magazine
(AFA), another artist by the name of Winthrop Chandler (1747-1790) is supposed
to be the first American landscape artist, noting that there may have been some
before but not native-born. And oh, yes, there was this gal named Sybil
Huntington May, but she only created one piece, so that's considered unimportant. Sorry, I think the first
is the first, no matter how many more paintings you create later on.
What’s more, I’m not quite convinced that Sybil stopped
there. Years later the parsonage burned down and it was just by good fortune
that this landscape painting survived. In my mind, it is perfectly possible
that she had a lot more of her paintings in that house but was only able to
save the one. Besides that, I read that May was supposed to have given art lessons to John Trumbull (who was to become one of the greats in American painting—more
on him later). Again, if this is the case, was art still part of her life, but because she was a woman and now a pastor's wife, she could not commercially pursue her passion? Hmm. We'll never know.
It’s a real shame that women were not given more credence
in the past because I think there is a whole other story to tell about
what went on artistically with May. But to add more to the fire, I’m planning on
sharing the life and tragic death of another female artist, Faith Trumbull, in next month’s issue.
Another brilliant early-American artist nobody really knows.
[1]
Annual
Report of the Buffalo Historical Society 1885
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Registration now being accepted for 2016 Sketching the English Village
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