A Family Business
Artists Lewis and Percy Ives, father and son respectively, were the Midwest's foremost portrait painters from the 1870's through the 1920's. Lewis Thomas Ives (1833-1894) left his career as a railroad attorney to devote himself to painting full time and quickly became the artist painting Detroit's most prominent business leaders, politicians and educators. Upon recognizing the talent his son was exhibiting, Percy (1864-1928) was sent to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and began instruction under Thomas Eakins at the age of 16, remaining for four years. Then in 1885, just after Percy's 21st birthday, father and son set sail for a European tour that would allow Percy to establish his own name as an artist outside of his father's reputation. By 1887, Percy was settled in Paris and enrolled in the Académie Julian and Lewis returned home.
Augustus Wright Ives, Percy’s older brother, had also gone abroad for his postsecondary education in Europe, attending college in Paris and then Heidelberg University in Germany. When he returned to Detroit he became a partner in an established gallery and the name was changed to the “Hanna & Ives Art Store”. Art galleries were a place for patrons to buy fine art, statuary, and other décor for their homes. It also served as an artist supply store that offered framing, canvases, paints, and even plaster molds of body limbs for artists to study. More importantly, the front windows of these galleries allowed local artists to advertise their work. Newspapers would then run short ads of who was being shown where. Occasionally, longer articles appeared, offering the reader a detailed description or a critical review. Storefront windows were a place for art to be seen and admired, as there was not an established museum until Lewis Ives and seven others founded the Detroit Art Museum in 1888.
Hanna & Ives exhibited Percy's first solo exhibition just prior to his departure to Europe and he wrote the following: July 9th, 1885 - “Sent out 520 invitations which cost $20.00 and a great deal of time. Put the finishing touches on some of the paintings and had them taken to the Art Store. Gus helped me hang them all evening and the next morning. The pictures entirely filled the room and looked well, 62 numbers in all. There was quite a crowd to see them. The newspapers all noticed them favorably.”
Both Lewis and Percy repeatedly exhibited their paintings in the front window of Hanna & Ives over the next several years until Augustus decided on the course of his future and enrolled in the Detroit College of Medicine and Surgery, later becoming a doctor specializing in neurology. His business partner, James Hanna, took on a new partner in 1889 and the store was renamed Hanna & Noyes. Hanna continued to support the Ives throughout their careers. He eventually became sole owner of the art store and it remained a Hanna family business for the next three generations in Detroit.
Augustus Ives’ short time in the art world was pieced together after reading hundreds of newspaper articles and family diaries. The discovery of the art store photos in Percy's scrapbook pulled the whole story together, however, an impromptu visit to a conservator’s studio in Detroit revealed even more. A 19th century frame, turned over on the table, exposed an interesting triangle label. Upon closer examination, we were looking at a label for “Hanna & Ives Art Store”. Just another piece to the story that is the Michigan State Capitol Portrait Collection.
