A new exhibition in Winter Park transports visitors to far-off lands through vivid imagery and invites guests on a tour of American history.
The Stebbins Collection at The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, on view through October, contains 70 works of art by 53 artists, which were donated as a gift to the museum. Paintings, sculptures and works on paper reveal the abilities of 19th and early 20th century creators in scenes featuring warm, natural light and colors.
The works previously belonged to Theodore E. and Susan Cragg Stebbins, both of whom have been immersed in the world of art their whole lives.
“Ted was a curator of American art at the MFA Boston for decades. He also worked at Harvard and Yale. And Susan really is an art historian in her own right,” said Dr. Regina Palm, the Morse’s curator of American painting. “They started an art collection simply because they love art, and they had a passion for it … It really wasn’t until later in life that they decided to start thinking about donating it.”
The Stebbins family has a strong connection to the museum, as Susan’s father was a member of the Morse Foundation’s board of trustees for more than a decade. The couple made their gift in honor of Susan’s parents, Evelyn and Henry Cragg, both longtime residents of Winter Park.
The collection, spread throughout three side-by-side galleries, doesn’t represent one particular style or interest but centers on natural themes — botanicals, landscapes, fruit-filled still life, several portraits and a cat.
Rather than focus on acquiring sought-after works by famous painters, the Stebbins collection features both well-known and lesser-known artists, and also works that highlight behind-the-scenes creative processes.
“You’ll see that there are names that are household names, and there’s names that aren’t really known at all,” Palm said. “The show was not organized chronologically or by medium. It’s arranged through thoughtful juxtapositions, kind of like they had in their home and also some thematic groupings.”
Recognizable painters represented in the exhibit include Thomas Moran, Albert Bierstadt, Martin Johnson Heade, John La Farge and Thomas Eakins.
Some of the works show a departure from an artist’s usual subject matter or style. One frame displays a butterfly created by Bierstadt, known for his landscapes, as a party gift to one of his guests. Several sculptures are on display by Eakins, who was famous for his work as a realistic painter but crafted wax figures to serve as references.
A nearby pencil sketch reveals a jarring portrait of Hamlet’s Ophelia etched onto paper by Lilly Martin Spencer, a departure from her usual satirical middle-class domestic scenes.
“One of the great things about the Stebbins Collection is that it brought in several female artists, a lot of 19th-century female artists,” Palm said. “Things that Ted and Susan collected, some collectors might potentially overlook. But they saw the value in better understanding the process.”
Morse visitors can also explore works by female creators Bessie Potter Vonnoh, a sculptor, Ellen Robbins and Fidelia Bridges, who were both known for their floral masterpieces.
Occasionally, the collection’s frames contain themes that aren’t just happy and beautiful, such as Ralph Albert Blakelock’s “The Old Homestead,” which depicts a rural homestead in a foreboding setting. The artist’s goal, according to Palm, was to highlight the poverty and economic disparity present during America’s Gilded Age.
“American art really is, for me, the visual narrative to American history,” Palm said. “Occasionally, we do have artists who choose to focus on the things that other artists perhaps are neglecting.”
Many canvases are small but draw the viewer closer into the frame, perhaps standing just inches away. Some works engage the senses, such as an Arnoud Wydeveld still life that invokes the rustling movement of onion skin or the scent of garlic. Others might convey the sound of crashing waves or a babbling brook.
Ultimately, the Stebbins’ gift of art represents a significant gain to the Morse Museum, serving to bolster the museum’s store of works based on the Civil War, raise the institution’s Heade collection to six paintings and diversify its array of American art.
“Ted is a pre-eminent historian of American art. To have a collection brought together by someone like that is quite fantastic,” Palm said. “There are some nice surprises we see in this show. There are well-known names, but not what you expect to see.”
If you go
“The Stebbins Collection: A Gift for the Morse Museum” is on view through October at 445 N. Park Ave. in Winter Park. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $1 for students and free for children ages 12 and younger. The museum is open 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday; 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. (free after 4 p.m.) Friday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. In addition, the museum hosts a Wednesday lecture series about “The Stebbins Collection” on select dates through April. For more information, visit morsemuseum.org.
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