2008

5 in

7 in

Card text for artworks not in collection. See individual catalog entries for artworks in the SDHC collection. Riverside Hotel 3 of 13 Thomas Eddy Tallmadge Oil, 1918 The Riverside Hotel was built near the mouth of the river in 1893, but left landlocked when the river was given a new mouth in 1906. A group of artists began in 1915 to dream of purchasing the old hotel and attendant buildings to house a summer art school. This painting was done in 1918, perhaps to help solicit funds. The purchase was completed in 1920 and the hotel became Ox-Bow Inn, headquarters of the Summer School of Painting, connected loosely with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Summer School continues each summer on the lagoon between Saugatuck and Lake Michigan. Thomas Eddy Tallmadge (1876-1940) was a Chicago architect and artist who came to the summer art school in 1915 and helped administer and fund the school's expansion. He was also an architectural historian. His best known work, The Story of Architecture in America, was published in 1927. Collection of Charles Aschbrenner and Chris T. Spencer Ganges School 4 of 13 Wilfrid Borg Watercolor, 1951 The two-story schoolhouse which served northern Ganges Township was built at the corner of 68th Street and 122nd Avenue in 1876 and received more than three generations of young scholars. By the time this picture was painted in 1951 it was beginning to show its age. The belfry is missing, but the bell remains on the roof. Still, the kindly teacher in the doorway checks on the children playing in the sunny schoolyard. The building was razed in 1952 to make way for a modern brick school. Wilfrid or "Wally" Borg (1908-2000) lived in Muskegon where he began his art training in the 1920s. He studied in Florida and Cape Cod, and during the WA program began a mural for the children's room of the Hackley Public Library in Muskegon. The mural was not completed until 1989, when the library's centennial was celebrated. Before his death he donated a portfolio of his work from the Saugatuck area to the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society. Collection of Judy and Tom Anthrop Big Pavilion at Night 7 of 13 Francis Chapin Watercolor, ca 1942 The red building in the center of this painting is the Big Pavilion, a large dance hall which dominated the riverfront at Saugatuck from 1909 until 1960, when it burned in a spectacular fire. It had hundreds of multi-colored lights inside and out and was billed as the "Brightest Spot on the Great Lakes." In this painting boats sail by starlight. The lights are on in the massive ballroom and you can almost hear the music wafting across the dark waters. Francis Chain (1899-1965) was trained as a lithographer and taught at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago 1922 until 1947. He was director of the summer school at Saugatuck after founder Frederick Fursman died, and he enjoyed dabbling in other media or just painting for recreation. Private Collection Butler Hotel in the Summer Sun William Hartman Watercolor, 1951 8 of 13 The building which would become the Butler Hotel was constructed as a grist mill in the 1890s and before the machinery arrived townspeople held a dance in the empty building. After the milling business closed, lakes captain W. G. Phelps purchased the building and converted it into a hotel. In this picture viewers can almost feel the warm sun as visitors read and chat on the bill which slopes down to the river. The 1950s were a quiet time in Saugatuck, following the busy war time years and preceding the college hijinks of the 1960s. Later the top floors containing the hotel rooms were removed, and only the restaurant and lobby area remains. William Hartman (1906-1990) was a native of West Michigan and during the WA program of the depression produced several historical dioramas for the Muskegon County Museum. He later studied and taught at the Ringling Art School in Sarasota, Florida, and also maintained a studio on Silver Lake, south of Pentwater, where he was known as "The Dunes Painter." Collection of Art and Kit Lane Diving Board at the Lighthouse 9 of 13 Frederick F. Fursman Oil, ca 1925 Seeking a quiet residence, Ox-Bow Summer School of Painting director, Frederick Fursman, leased a discontinued lighthouse across the lagoon from the school. This painting is of the dock and diving board at the lighthouse landing done in his impressionistic style. The government later sold the lighthouse to the Deam family and the original building was destroyed by a tornado in 1956. Arthur Deam, an architect, designed a new cottage on the old foundation which recalls the old building. Frederick Frary Fursman (1874-1943), an Illinois native, studied art in Chicago and France and was one of the founders of the Summer School of Painting at Ox- Bow. He taught in Chicago and Wisconsin and later was a visiting artist in Kentucky, Colorado and New Mexico. Fursman was a resident of Saugatuck when he died in 1943. Collection of Charles Aschbrenner and Chris T. Spencer