4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2009.

Images(2)

4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2021.

Lilies, Lanterns and Sunshine

Artist Helen Maria Turner (American, 1858-1958)

CultureAmerican

Date1923

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions36 1/8 x 44 in. (91.8 x 111.8 cm)
Overall, Frame: 40 3/4 × 48 3/4 × 2 1/2 in. (103.5 × 123.8 × 6.4 cm)

InscribedSigned lower left: Helen M. Turner

Credit LineGift of W.B.S. Grandy

Object number27.1.1

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 218

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting; it shows a garden patio scene of a young girl holding up a lantern in front of a woman, possibly her mother. A golden-colored dog sits next to the woman, who is looking into a lantern on her lap. In the foreground, a table with a patterned white tablecloth holds two teacups and a plate with food. The background shows a treed landscape with bright orange-red flowers; a pot of the same flowers sit on the table.

Label TextHelen Marie Turner American, 1858–1958 Lilies, Lanterns and Sunshine, 1923 Oil on canvas Sunlight floods the porch of Helen Turner’s cottage in the artists’ colony of Cragsmoor, New York. Dappled shadows compete with patterns on the porcelain, tablecloth, and dresses, testing the artist’s skill at painting from life. A neighbor’s daughter posed for both figures, wearing a different hairstyle and costume. Turner exhibited her paintings with other pioneering women artists, including the sculptor Harriet Frishmuth (whose bronze Crest of the Wave can be seen nearby). Following a 1927 show of their work in Norfolk, Lillies, Lanterns and Sunshine was purchased and given to the Museum. Gift of W. B. S. Grandy 27.1.1 ProvenanceW.B.S. Grandy, Norfolk, Virginia; Gift of W.B.S. Grandy to The Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences (turned the Chrysler Museum), 1927. Exhibition HistoryMilch Gallery, New York, N.Y., date unknown. "Pennsylvania Academy Annual," Philadelphia, Pa., February, 1924. Possibly a Grand Central Art Galleries Tour, Atlanta, Ga., March, 1924. "Detroit Institute of Art Annual," Detroit, Mich., April - May, 1924. Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, Ill., October - December, 1924, no. 207. American Federation of Arts tour, 1925 - 1926. "Commemorative Exhibition by Members of the National Academy of Design, 1825-1925," The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., October 17 - November 15, 1925; The Grand Central Art Galleries, New York, NY, December 1, 1925 - January 3, 1926. (Exh. cat. p. 94) "Helen M. Turner and Harriet Frishmuth," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Tex., November 1926; Hyland Park Society, Dallas, Tex., January 1927; Norfolk Society of Arts, Seaboard Airline Building, Norfolk, Va., February 1927. "Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. (Exh. cat. p. 165) "A Century of Women Artists in Cragsmoor," The Cragsmoor Free Library, Niagara Council on the Arts, Cragsmoor Volunteer Fire Company, Cragsmoor, N.Y., July 20 - July 29, 1979; Niagara Art Center, Niagara Falls, N.Y., September 9 - October 12, 1979; Mercy College, Yorktown Heights, N.Y., October 18 - November 27, 1979; Poughkeepsie Art and Science Center, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., November 27, 1979 - January 7, 1980; Rome Art and Community Center, Rome, N.Y., January 7 - March 12, 1980; The 1890 House Museum, Courtland, N.Y., March 12 - April 24, 1980. "Helen M. Turner, N.A. (1858-1958): A Retrospective Exhibition," Cragsmoor Free Library, Cragsmoor, N.Y., July 2 - July 17, 1983; Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio, September 11 - November 6, 1983; Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, N.J., December 10, 1983 - February 1, 1984; Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, Owensboro, Ky., March 2 - April 5, 1984. "Artistic Transitions: From the Academy to Impressionism in American Art, 25th Anniversary Exhibition," The Cummer Gallery of Art, Jacksonville, Fla., October 24, 1986 - January 11, 1987. "American Women Artists, 1830-1930," National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., April 10 - June 14, 1987; The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minn., July 5 - August 30, 1987; The Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn., September 19 - November 15, 1987; San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, Calif., December 5 - January 31, 1988; Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Tex., February 20 -April 17, 1988. "The Allegorical Table," The Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, Va., November 20, 1993 - January 9, 1994; William King Regional Art Center, Abingdon, Va., February 19 - April 10, 1994. "Echoes & Late Shadows: The Larger World of Southern Impressionism," Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Ga., June 6 - August 18, 1996. "Visions of Home: American Impressionist Images of Suburban Leisure and Country Comfort," Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Ind., May 23 - August 8, 1999. "Behind the Seen: The Chrysler's Hidden Museum," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., October 21, 2005 - February 19, 2006. "Women of the Chrysler: a 400-Year Celebration of the Arts," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., March 24 - July 18, 2010. "Helen M. Turner: The Woman's Point of View," Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tn., June 27 - September 19, 2010; Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Ga., October 9, 2010 - January 16, 2011; Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, Al., February 13 - May 8, 2011. "American Treasures at the Willoughby-Baylor House," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, January 2 - December 1, 2013. “Monet and American Impressionism” Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, Feb. 3 – May 24, 2015; Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN, June 26 – Sept. 20, 2015; Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA, October 16, 2015 – Jan 24, 2016.Published ReferencesNational Academy of Design, _Commemorative Exhibition by members of the National Academy_, exh. cat., National Academy of Design, New York, N.Y., 1925, 94. Dennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1975, 165. Frederic J. Radl with essay by Kathy Zimmerer, _A Century of Women Artists in Cragsmoor_, exh. cat., Cragsmoor Free Library, Cragsmoor, N.Y., 1979, 8, 17. Lewis Hoyer Rabbage, _Helen M. Turner, NA (1858-1958): A Retrospective Exhibition_, exh. cat., Cragsmoor Free Library, Cragsmoor, N.Y., 1983, 6-7, 23. Michael David Zellman, _American Art Analog_ 2 (Edgemont, Pa.: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986), 552. William H. Gerdts, _Artistic Transitions: From the Academy to Impressionism in American Art. 25th Anniversary Exhibition_, exh. cat., The Cummer Gallery of Art, Jacksonville, Fla., 1987, 39-40, cat. no. 44. Eleanor Tufts, _American Women Artists, 1830-1930_, exh. cat., National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, 1987, cat. no. 56. Amy Fine Collins, _American Impressionism_ (New York: Gallery Books, 1990), 156-157. Estill Curtis Pennington, _Echoes & Late Shadows: The Larger World of Southern Impressionism_, (Augusta, GA: Morris Museum of Art, 1996), 48. "Visions of Home Programs," _Previews: News and Events for Members of the Indianapolis Museum of Art_, May/June 1999, 5. Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 162-163, no. 101. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 71, fig. 79. Jane Ward Faquin, _Helen M. Turner: The Woman's Point of View_, exh. cat., Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, TN, 2010, 52-53, plate 25. Dulce M. Román, _Monet and American Impressionism_ (Gainesville, FL: Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, 2015) 151, plate 49.