Wife & Model
While headed to Italy on a transatlantic cruise ship in 1902 with her mother and younger brother, twenty-one year old art student Corinne Lawton Mackall writes in her diary, I am prostrate and...
View ArticleConservation of Painting Yields New Information
In anticipation of the upcoming webinar program on Belmont’s Portrait of a Young Girl with Fan presented by our paintings conservator Perry Hurt, I post a reprint of my 1999 article as backdrop to the...
View ArticleMore Melchers Paintings Surface
As curator at GMHS I have been compiling a complete Melchers database for years, 38 to be precise. Over 1650 individual items have been catalogued, everything from thumbnail sketches to major easel...
View ArticleBarnyard Revival
Thanks to the careful research and expert skills of Grounds Maintenance Manager Dave Ludeker and Maintenance Assistant Daniel Carter, I am able to report on the final stages in the restoration of the...
View ArticleMissouri State Capitol Murals: The Backstory
On the heels of his success with the Detroit Public Library murals, Gari Melchers was approached in early 1922 by John Pickard, Missouri State Capitol Decoration Commission President and University of...
View ArticleThat Darling Irascible Gari Melchers
I’ve shared letters with you from Mrs. Melchers’ archive before, but this one really stands out. It is one of the most revealing first-person character sketches we have of Gari Melchers. This letter...
View ArticleBelmont’s Historic Horseshoe Staircase
One of the most striking architectural features of the historic house Belmont is the semicircular arrangement of stone steps on the east elevation known as the Horseshoe Staircase. This distinctive...
View ArticleGari Melchers: Our Best Picks
After studying Gari Melchers for nearly forty years it’s inevitable that people expect the curator of the collection to have a favorite. Impossible. That’s like asking me to pick a favorite chocolate...
View ArticleSpirit of an Artist
While his passing is a real loss to American art, the spirit of his work will always live. Adolph A Weinman, German-born American sculptor Our greatest living painter has gone. Francis Wilson, American...
View ArticleAnimal Lovers
No doubt about it, Gari and Corinne Melchers loved animals. The couple enjoyed dogs as pets and usually had at least one canine companion at all times. While living at Belmont, they expanded their...
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