A new art exhibit just opened in Heritage Hall! The first in our Behind the Canvas series, A Father’s Presence explores the relational dynamics between two of the Capitol’s most prolific artists – Lewis and Percy Ives.
This father-son duo created fifteen of the Capitol’s portraits. Lewis, Percy’s father, was active from 1870 to 1894, while Percy worked from 1884 to 1928. Despite his successful career, Percy appears to have struggled early on to develop an artistic style in his father’s shadow.
Through a comparison of two paintings – Young Girl Reading by Lewis and Portrait of a Young Violinist by Percy – this exhibit explores similarities and differences between the styles and processes of the Ives. Paired with a selection of Percy’s journal entries, the paintings illuminate for viewers the labor and emotions of a young artist striving to establish himself as unique from his father, yet similarly successful.
A Father’s Presence will be on view through June 30th. Stop by Heritage Hall to see the paintings and an accompanying brochure in person and stay tuned for more information about Lewis and Percy Ives in our upcoming blog posts!
In our Behind the Canvas series, we seek to provide viewers with new perspectives on our artwork and artists – a peek behind the canvas, if you will. We explore the materials and processes applied to the pieces at hand, and we try to approach the artwork from an artist’s point of view. Our choice to reveal the unpainted areas of canvas normally hidden by a gilded frame serves as a literal representation of our desire to explore parts of our Capitol’s art history that have not yet been touched.
