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A bit of Belmont is home again

May 20, 2006 12:50 am

By CLINT SCHEMMER

A beautiful bit of history has come home, after eight decades' absence, to Gari Melchers Home and Studio in Falmouth.

The museum unveiled a painting this week that Melchers, an American impressionist, painted from his home's east portico sometime between 1917 and 1922.

The artwork, of a wintry Falmouth scene, was acquired by the state historic site to mark the opening of its new Studio Pavilion, which welcomes area residents to enjoy free tours tomorrow from 1 to 5 p.m. It is the first Melchers painting purchased by Belmont, which owns the world's largest collection of works by the artist, a contemporary of John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam and Mary Cassatt.

That connection to Falmouth and the work's superb quality as an example of the American landscape movement make it very special, curator Joanna Catron said yesterday.

Titled "Cottage in Snow," the small painting depicts a stone cottage in the east pasture at Belmont, the country home that Gari Melchers and his wife, Corinne, purchased in 1916 and moved to from New York City.

Melchers used the building as a temporary studio until he completed a much larger studio near the house in 1924. The cottage was demolished in 1966 after it fell into serious disrepair, Catron said.

Now, this lovely painting of the artist's original Falmouth studio is on public view in the bigger, well-lighted one where he worked until his death in 1932. It is shown in its original frame, complemented by a matching Whistler-style surround.

To capture the scene, Melchers stood at Belmont's east portico, where he could look down into what locals call "Falmouth Bottom" and across to the hills on the other side. Some of the homes in the Bottom are visible in the work's background, as is the steeple of the old Union Church--whose facade remains today.

This view of the village below from Belmont's high ridge was a favorite of Melchers, who painted it in different seasons and at different times of day, Catron said.

The museum has a few examples in its collection. In "Falmouth in Snow," some of the snowfall has melted off the cottage's red metal roof, and more buildings and trees can be seen in the background. Another work, "From My Porch," which was never finished, depicts Corinne and the couple's groundskeeper, Mason Dillon, on the east portico.

Corinne gave a third painting, which shows the cottage in springtime, to a local woman as a wedding gift after Gari died. It remains in the woman's family today, Catron said.

She said many of Melchers' most appealing landscapes were evocative images like "Cottage in Snow," in which he communicated subtle changes in weather and sunlight using a tight range of colors and sketchy brushwork.

"Cottage in Snow" hardly had time to dry before it was snapped up by New York collector Hersey Egginton, who bought it through Melchers' main dealer in Manhattan, Arthur Milch. Egginton owned at least one other Melchers work, "Ingleside in Spring," of the farm next door.

"Cottage in Snow" passed down through the Egginton family until 1982, when it was sold. About five years ago, an art dealer showed it to Catron.

"There's a note of reverie in it that just makes it a beautiful little thing," she said, recalling the moment. "I thought, 'Oh, that's the best cottage scene from here on the property I've ever seen. Wouldn't that be lovely to have?'"

The painting changed hands a few more times until it came on the market in 2005 through a New Haven, Conn., dealer, Thomas Coleville Fine Arts. He called Catron to see if Belmont would be interested. This time, she screwed up the courage to approach museum director David Berreth and UMW President William M. Anderson Jr. about the possibility of acquiring it.

Catron recalls going to Anderson with a long list of justifications for the request.

"I barely got the first one out," she said. "He recognized how beautiful it was. And he said, 'You've never done this before. You obviously think it's important, and that's good enough for me. So we're going to find a way.'"

Anderson secured private funds for that purpose, and Gari Melchers Home and Studio bought it in late 2005 in preparation for completion of the Studio Pavilion. Officials yesterday declined to identify the benefactor or reveal the painting's purchase price.

To reach CLINT SCHEMMER: 540/368-5029
Email: cschemmer@freelancestar.com