People buy art for all kinds of reasons. Some buy it for love of the work, while others see it as an investment for the future. And sometimes, both cases are true. But Edward Wales Root was something different. Of course he loved the pieces he purchased, but more than that, he wanted to make sure that the artists could afford to keep making art.
The first art Edward purchased was a 1908 painting by Ernest Lawson called Winter, Spuyten Duyvil. FYI, Spuyten Duyvil is a small subsection of the Bronx in New York City. The piece (as you can see) depicts a snow-covered landscape with barren trees and empty roads. In yesterday's posting we talked about The Eight, a group of artists that helped define early 20th century American art (and make up a good portion of Root's collection). Ernest Lawson was part of this group and this piece was included in a famous show at the Macbeth Gallery in 1908. But the show was not the financial boon the artists had hoped it might be. When Root discovered that Lawson was teetering on the brink of poverty, he bought the piece for $250, pulling his friend back from the edge of financial ruin. Lawson was relieved. Root was hooked. His life as collector had begun.
This piece, along with 226 others, makes up the collection Edward Wales Root left behind.
50 of these pieces will be on display here from August 23-November 29 as part of the exhibition, Auspicious Vision: Edward Wales Root and American Modernism.
