Early Photography Meets 20th-Century Sleuthing

By:John Hart, Assistant Curator of Collections

When I started working for The Farmers’ Museum and The New York State Historical Association less than 10 months ago, I knew that several projects would be coming my way and that over time I’d find more on my own. One of those projects involved a “mystery” box that had been tentatively identified as being a case for a camera. Simple enough, I thought. Then my curiosity got the better of me and as I looked at this box, I noticed little dimples and hinges in strategic locations. I already had figured out that the case probably opened somehow and an old box camera probably fit into it; never did I realize what I would find when I pushed this button and swung the hinges down.
This camera instantly became one of my favorite pieces in the NYSHA collection, not only for its sheer beauty and simplicity, but for what I learned as I researched the maker, model, and shutter. What I found was that this camera was built by the Rochester Optical Company around 1886 and that the shutter mechanism that is now attached was not the original shutter. The new owner must have had a fair bit of knowledge of photography because they married an Athlete Shutter made by the Prosch Manufacturing Company, a top-of-the-line model in its day, to the camera, allowing it to take clearer and sharper images.

For me, this camera represents not only precious craftsmanship that is rarely seen today, but something that someone in the late 19th and early 20th centuries used to preserve their memories, much like the photographers have done at the Fenimore Art Museum’s American Photography: Recent Acquisitions. NYSHA not only collects historic photographs, but contemporary ones as well, which brings the number of photographs in our collection to nearly 150,000 including a large collection from the photographers Washington G. Smith and Arthur Telfer. Technology has come a long way since this camera and Smith-Telfer’s time, but you have to admit, there’s just something about an object like this that makes you stop, slow down, and admire a somewhat simpler time.

Designing the campagana, or, notes from an antediluvian blogger

By: Chris Rossi, Associate Curator of Exhibitions

When working on graphics for upcoming exhibits I am often reminded of where I come from. When you grew up using a slide rule rather than a calculator, some things (like blogging!) just don’t seem to come naturally. Not to say we didn’t make it to calculators, it was just that my first one was a huge beige model that my high school classmates dubbed the DeSoto.

Again, like the DeSoto, my first foray into computer graphic design was on a General Electric machine that was the size of a small refrigerator. The crude shapes that acted as design elements reminded me of my childhood Colorforms. The only slot my roommate and I could get for lab time was 3 am. We slept out in our studio and chugged coffee at 2:45 am. It was hot stuff.
Technology is still hot stuff. In fact now I do all my design work on a machine that often seems to know more than I do. America’s Rome: Artists in the Eternal City, 1800-1900, our feature exhibit at Fenimore this year, was laid out on a computer; graphics and design elements all composed on the same Mac G5. Now I am working on a map of the Roman Campagna and am impressed at how the Mac and Photoshop seem to be holding out on me – holding back on some secrets that will make this the map that will unlock the glories of the Roman Campagna to our visitors and link the paintings to those romantic names – Tivoli, Frascati, Nettuno, to name a few. The green and yellow ochre fields, Roman ruins, peasants, and waterfalls that the 19th-century painters found so intriguing. How to connect the names and images in a way that will make them easily accessible to the visitor is always the big design challenge. Sometimes the tools are more sophisticated than their driver and we all have to play a little catch-up.

In the end, the results will exceed what was created with the slide rule, or the DeSoto, or the GE. The new technology can lead to amazing ends. Who knows where it may take the map and I.

Let’s go out to the lobby…or maybe into it, because of the rain!

By: Kate Betz, Manager of Public Programs

Last week, I had the pleasure of hosting our first ever (at least in the memory of everyone I have asked) outdoor movie on the back lawn of the Fenimore Art Museum. For the next three weeks, we will be hosting movies every Wednesday night. I have to send huge thanks to everyone who came out for their patience with our new format and most especially with the weather. We had a rain plan in place just in case, and it’s a good thing we did. Just as Princess Ann’s royal parents were sending incognito spies to track her down, rain drops began to fall. We had to pause the movie, bring everyone inside, and get set up in our auditorium. Luckily, we managed to get inside before the real rain started. This year’s outdoor series is titled “Americans Abroad.” All of the movies offer a different perspective on Americans traveling to foreign countries—from news reporter to comedic swindler. Each evening features lawn games (watch out, I’m a bocce champion!) and snacks as well as one of the most spectacular views of Otsego Lake in town. Check our website for the complete schedule. I hope to see you there!

A Visit to Homer's Studio in Maine

By: Paul D'Ambrosio, Vice President and Chief Curator

All art is local. No matter how much you study a particular painting you never truly understand it until you have seen the spot it depicts. I recently traveled to Maine and took the opportunity to pay a visit to the Winslow Homer Studio in Prouts Neck.

It was fortunate that the director of the Studio Project, Dan O’Leary, was so generous with his time as to meet my wife Anna and me on a Saturday morning to show us the site, which is not yet open to the public. The studio was purchased by the Portland Museum of Art a few years ago and they have been carefully restoring it to the period in which it was inhabited by Homer, from the 1800s until his death in 1910. Dan O'Leary, Director of the Homer Studio Project and the new President of MWPAI, gave us a behind-the-scenes tour of the studio, still in the process of restoration and not yet open to the public.
I have been familiar with the Prouts Neck paintings for some time: there are great examples in the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester and the Clark Art Institute, among others. What I did not understand until visiting Prouts Neck was that many of the oft-published notions about Homer are not as simple as they seem.

Homer lived a private, isolated existence in Prouts Neck. Well, he did have his brother Charles’ house about 200 feet away, where he went for meals prepared by his sister Matty. Homer kept to himself and didn’t like visitors. True, he was not keen on people stopping by the studio unannounced after he had achieved fame, but he also made friends with a number of the local fisherfolk and included them in his paintings. He also had a sense of humor: when someone asked him where all the empty rum bottles in his studio came from, he replied that he didn’t know; he had never bought an empty rum bottle in his life.

Lastly, Homer is a faithful transcriber of nature. Yes and no; he was very accurate in his depictions of natural phenomena that he observed daily, but he also took artistic license by creating composites that altered or combined a variety of elements. Waves that occur at high tide and low tide are seen together; islands are left out of the background; a distant view of the rocky coast is combined with a close-up of the studio building. The results are hard to argue with; nobody captured raw nature like Winslow Homer, who lived on its doorstep for much of his life.

Cannon Rock, one of Homer's favorite spots, just about 100 yards from the studio.
As I mentioned above, the studio and grounds are not yet open to the public. The Portland Museum of Art hopes to complete the restoration in the next few years and open the site for visitation. In the meantime, the museum has a wonderful gallery of Homer’s work in its main building.

Niro's Journey

By: Michelle Murdock, Curator of Exhibitions
Shelley Niro created this series of paintings for a film she has been working on for more than ten years, called Kissed By Lightning. The paintings detail the Journey of the Peacemaker, which is the basis of the unification of the five Nations which became the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Nations.

The story begins with Grandmother’s Dream. The Spirit (the eagle) visits the Grandmother, telling her to leave the child alone because he is going to bring peace to the Haudenosaunee People. The child and his mother are surrounded by modern-day horrors ranging from the Bosnian War to common-place pollution.



The Peacemaker and His Canoe relates the part of the story where the Peacemaker travels in a stone canoe. Scholars of the story indicate that a stone canoe could indicate that this story has been around since the ice-age. Others explain that the Peacemaker has come from a different time or even place.

Face of Peace is a composite painting showing the importance of women in the formation of the Iroquois Confederacy, who have always acknowledged them as equals.

Dark Times illustrates a period of time when disease ripped through the Haudenosaunee territory, leaving few survivors. Society as they had known it had disappeared. Social graces, manners, ceremonies were forgotten. Basic survival skills were forgotten. Grandmothers and grandfathers no longer were there to teach the young. Knowledge had vanished.

Monster Man appears in the next painting, eating a human leg. This person represents people who fear they can never change. He was a man who terrified everyone around him. He was notorious for his cannibalism. After meeting with the Peacemaker, he was able to change, and show others how they too can change.

The Peacemaker Combs Snakes From His Hair shows what one person can do for another person. By removing varmints and bugs from The Monsters hair, The Monster can now think more clearly for himself and start to live a healthy life.

Dreaming of Cornfields shows Hiawatha’s distress as he thinks of his wife and daughters who are no longer with him. In his state of mourning, he can no longer think clearly for himself. His grief keeps him paralyzed and in a catatonic state.

The Healing Of Hiawatha shows the Peacemaker’s hand on Hiawatha’s head, absolving him of grief. With the application of wampum to his forehead, the Peacemaker brings him out of a state of confusion. They begin their journey together, bringing healing to the other people who are also in the same state.

Shelley Niro’s paintings are on view in Our Stories Made Visible: Two Mohawk Women Artists. The 7th Contemporary Iroquois Art Biennial featuring Katsitsionni Fox and Shelley Niro through July 5.

We love Otsego County!

By: Michelle Murdock, Curator of Exhibitions

Twelve years ago I moved from Maine to a small town just outside of Cooperstown. I was embraced by the local community and within a short period of time, came to feel like part of a larger, county-wide community. This was a completely new experience for me because Mainers rarely identify themselves by the county they live in. But here in upstate New York, I soon realized the importance (and pleasure!) of county affiliations.

This week at the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum, we are showing our deep appreciation for our friends and neighbors in our county. Otsego County Appreciation Week began on Monday and continues through Sunday June 28th. We’ll be offering half off admissions and memberships for Otsego County residents, and we’re hosting lots of fun events. At the Fenimore Art Museum, art activities will be offered for kids every morning at 10:15 a.m., and a curator-led tour will be offered each weekday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. My tour will be on Wednesday June 24th and I’ll be giving an overview of all the exhibitions currently on view. My colleague Paul D’Ambrosio will lead a tour of America’ Rome on Monday and Thursday and Eva Fognell will lead a tour of the Thaw Collection on Tuesday and Friday. And at 11:00 a.m. each morning, visitors can experience a guided tour of the new Interpretive Trail and the Mohawk Bark House which are located on the shore of Otsego Lake behind the Fenimore Art Museum. Speaking of Otsego Lake, I want to encourage you to bring a picnic to enjoy on the grounds of Fenimore when you come. I, too, will be taking my lunch lakeside, enjoying one of Otsego County’s natural treasures, near its premiere cultural treasure that I’m lucky enough to call my home away from home.Thank you Otsego County!