The painting “White Plow Horse in a Field of Hyacinths” has returned to Gari Melchers Home and Studio from the conservator’s lab. A layer of grime and darkened varnish were removed to restore the piece to its original beauty. The circa 1895 an oil on canvas is the work of American artist George Hitchcock, who was a longtime associate of Gari Melchers.
The painting will be displayed in the studio at Belmont for the first time fitted in a frame funded in part by a generous gift in memory of Anne Wilson Rowe, a 1957 alumna of the University of Mary Washington and a dedicated museum member who served on the Melchers Advisory Council.
Hitchcock and Melchers are credited with founding a painting colony on the North Sea of Holland. Melchers’ personal collection of art includes pieces by his colleague, including “The White Plow Horse” and “Magnificat,” currently on loan to the Telfair Museum of Art with the traveling exhibition “Dutch Utopia.”
Hitchcock trained and practiced as a lawyer in his native Providence, R.I., until early in the 1880s when he traveled abroad to study painting. Initially, he favored the watercolor medium, which led him to Holland to study under the influence of a group of celebrated watercolorists headquartered in The Hague. Following brief periods of study in Paris and Dusseldorf, Germany, Hitchcock returned to Holland where he painted pictures of traditionally costumed Dutch peasant girls portrayed as modern-day saints and biblical figures. Religious themes and romantic allegories were the main direction of his work for the next 10 years.
Gradually, Hitchcock shifted from overt religious allegories to secular images of figures posing in beautiful sunlit tulip fields, capitalizing on the growing popularity among collectors for modern themes and an impressionist palette. “White Plow Horse in a Field of Hyacinths,” depicting a farmer leading his work horse through a flower field, features characteristics of impressionist innovation, including loose brushwork, heightened coloration and atmospheric effects. “White Plow Horse” is Hitchcock’s more modern take on an earlier version titled “Vanquished.”
Gari Melchers Home and Studio is a 28-acre estate and former residence of the artist Gari Melchers and his wife Corinne. The property, which is operated by the University of Mary Washington, is both a Virginia Historic Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. Located at 224 Washington St. in Falmouth, Va., a quarter mile west of the intersection of U.S. 1 and U.S. 17, it is open daily, except Wednesdays, with an admission charge. The museum also serves as the official Stafford County Visitor Center.
For directions and other information, call (540) 654-1015 or visit the museum Web site at www.GariMelchers.org.