Ernesta Drinker and the ‘Gulls at Leland’

Home Features Ernesta Drinker and the ‘Gulls at Leland’
Ernesta Drinker and the ‘Gulls at Leland’
“On the Terrace” painted by Cecelia Beaux is displayed in the Fine Arts Building.
Collegian | Hillsdale Collegian Archives

You’ve walked by that fractured painting of the tall woman in the yellow dress many times. Perhaps you’ve wondered: what happened to her calves? 

Lecturer in Art Sam Knecht first stumbled upon the paintings in Ann Arbor at the owner’s apartment. But he immediately knew something was wrong. The main features of the painting remained on the canvas, but it seemed as if portions of the artwork — namely her calves —  were missing. 

He was right. In its beginnings, the painting reached a height of about six feet. 

The mystery: what happened to the rest of it?

In the earlier stages, “Portrait Study” underwent three revisions. After Beaux first completed the piece, she exhibited the painting in a 1913 art show at the National Academy of Design. At first, the painting was a success, but the criticism revealed that the painting needed more work. 

Her revision exhibited shortly afterwards, but only to return to the studio for a third and final touch up. Beaux changed the finished piece to “On the Terrace,” which first exhibited in New York City in 1917.

The artwork itself depicts Beaux’s niece, Ernesta Drinker, in what appears to be a dress, but in reality is an embroidered curtain. As an artist, Beaux captured the facial features perfectly. 

“She is poised, self-assured with hair pulled back beneath a fashionable gold and navy turban. The overall effect is exotic…through each passage, brushwork is deft, light in touch, never overworked,” said Knecht in his article entitled, “The Mysterious Case of Portrait Study by Cecilia Beaux.” 

After Beaux’s death, Ernesta, the painting’s subject, inherited the painting and intended to keep it. However, as the need for money emerged, Ernesta sought interested buyers. 

In the late 1970s, the separated paintings found their home with a Michigan couple, Paul Natvig and his wife, living in Ann Arbor. Upon professional examination, the art pieces were found to have been cut from a larger painting and resized to fit smaller canvases. 

As time passed, the paintings hung in the Natvig’s apartment, waiting for someone like Knecht to free them from obscurity, and place them again on public display. 

In 2016, Natvig donated the paintings to the college.

 “She was convinced of the good work we do in the art department and the impact such a work would have on art students and others,” Knecht said. “It took three years to accomplish that with visits about three times a year.”

Beaux is just one artist among many showcased in Hillsdale College’s Daughtrey Art Gallery. Another great artist featured here is German painter Mathias Alten.

This year marks the anniversary of Alten’s birth, and to celebrate, the Daughtrey Art Gallery is featuring over 40 of his works.

Born in Gusenberg, Germany in 1871, Alten created more than 3,000 paintings, influenced primarily by his Impressionist predecessors. 

“He is a second-generation Impressionist,” said Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Roxanne Kaufman. 

Living in Grand Rapids for much of his career, Alten focused on scenes of the ordinary — rural landscapes, agricultural life of the people, and Lake Michigan.

Among the many art pieces in the gallery hangs one of Alten’s great works called “Gulls at Leland.” The painting is an oil on canvas that captures both the motion and life at the seashore. Towards the end of Alten’s career, he traveled to the Leelanau Peninsula off of Michigan to visit the fishing community and incorporate such simplicity into his work. Such a trip resulted in his creation of the “Gulls at Leland” in 1936. 

The collection hung for many years in the halls of George and Barbara Gordon’s home. 

In 1998, the couple donated over 35 paintings, including “Gulls at Leland,” to the Grand Valley Art Gallery in northern Michigan. 

In celebration of Alten’s anniversary, the collection travels on loan throughout the state for its exhibition.

Today, I encourage you to visit the Mathias Alten Gallery. Visit the Cecelia Beaux paintings in the lobby. Take a couple minutes. Before you know it, you’ll be drawn in by their story if you are willing to stare and listen.