e-Newsletter | December 22, 2022
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A Season of Giving
by Susan C.S. Edwards
One of the delights of being a museum curator or director is connecting with members and friends who decide to donate their treasured objects and heirlooms to the museum. They are legion. Over the decades, hundreds of individuals have made the decision to donate to the Museum of Old Newbury making the collections of objects and artifacts a rich tapestry of the fabric of our community.
Recently, members Anne and Alec White approached the museum about a gift of two Herbert Everett oil paintings that they had purchased a number of years ago from the late Chris Snow, a well known Newburyport antique dealer. In 1981, Snow held an exhibition of eleven local artists' works where Anne first saw "Tree Landscape". Over the centuries, Old Newbury has had a rich legacy of painters who made their homes in these communities, from portrait painters in the 18th and 19th centuries to miniaturists and landscape painters in the 20th century. Many of these are represented in the museum's fine art collection.
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Anne and Alec White presenting their Herbert Everett paintings to the museum. "We feel so lucky to give them to the museum and to have found a wonderful home for them," said Anne.
During the summer while researching Newburyport artist Cornelia Perrin Stone, I stumbled across the name of Herbert Everett. In a casual conversation with former museum co-president, Jane Wild, she mentioned that Everett had lived in her home in West Newbury. Thus began a journey to discover as much about this man as possible.
Herbert Edward Everett, born in Worcester in 1863, studied at local public schools before attending Harvard. He studied and practiced wood engraving at the Museum of Fine Arts in the late 1880s. It was during his years in Boston that he met Laura Coombs Hills and established a life-long friendship.
Everett traveled to London and Paris where he studied at the Académie Julien. Upon his return to the U.S. in the early 1890s, he continued his education at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts while also securing a position at the University of Pennsylvania. From 1892-1894, he served as an Instructor of Drawing and, subsequently, as an assistant professor of Interior Decoration from 1894-1905.
In 1895, Everett married Catherine Arms Childs with whom he had two daughters, Jane Hamlin Everett and Catherine Arms Everett.
In 1905, Everett was named the University's first Professor of the History of Art, a position he held until his retirement.
The same year, Everett took a sabbatical from the University and traveled with his wife and daughters to Italy where he attended the American School of Classical Studies in Rome. He became a fellow in Medieval and Renaissance archaeology of the American School for Archaeology in Rome. Some of his pastels from this period still survive.
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An Italian vista painted by Herbert Everett c. 1905. Photo courtesy of Barbara Noyes-Stark.
In addition to his responsibilities as an academician, Everett enjoyed creating his own art working almost exclusively in watercolors and pastels, although he worked in pen and ink as well designing bookplates and sketches. He exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, of which he was a member. Everett was also a founding member of the Philadelphia Watercolor Club (now known as the Philadelphia Watercolor Society), established in 1900. He participated in annual exhibitions from the turn of the century with fellow artist Laura Coombs Hills and with Cornelia Perrin Stone, another Newburyport artist. It was Hills who encouraged the Everett family to summer in the Newburyport area. She was a close friend and godmother to their younger daughter Catherine Arms Everett.
In 1912, Catherine and Herbert Everett purchased a c. 1792 house along Main Street in West Newbury as a summer residence. Not only was it less than two miles from Hills's home, "The Goldfish", it was across the road from the home of friend Jenny Lind Hamlin for whom Everett had designed the house.
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The home of Catherine and Herbert Everett in West Newbury. After Catherine Everett's death in 1949, the property passed to Jane Hamlin Everett and her husband Mortimer Graves. Photo courtesy of Jane Wallace Wild.
Thus, with some familiarity with the area and a few friends, the Everetts became involved with the art and cultural community of the Newburys. Both Catherine Everett and Jenny Hamlin were concert pianists. Another neighbor, painter Agnes Augusta Brown was also part of the artistic enclave. She and husband John Appleton Brown summered in West Newbury for many years where they sketched and painted scenes of the countryside.
Herbert Everett, although interested in architecture and landscapes, was passionate about horticulture and flowers, and he painted numerous flower gardens in both Philadelphia and Newburyport. Many of these belonged to friends. He considered his art an avocation and enjoyed sharing his work.
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Portrait photograph of Herbert Edward Everett about the time he acquired his summer home in West Newbury. Photo courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania: University Archives Image Collection.
Everett had a long and distinguished career as a professor and was a member of many professional societies. In 1921, he was awarded an honorary degree of doctor of Art Education from the University of Pennsylvania. During his career he also lectured at Cornell University and Smith College. He retired in 1931, and he and his wife made West Newbury their permanent home. He continued his interest in and passion for flowers and cultivated rare and exotic plants.
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White’s Bridge on Newman Road, facing Old Town Hill by Herbert Everett. Oil on canvas. Gift of Anne and Alec White.
Near the end of his life, he was living in Newburyport with his daughter Catherine Everett Noyes where he died in December 1932. His funeral was held at All Saints Church in West Newbury. Both Everett and his wife are buried in Belleville Cemetery.
At this season of giving, we celebrate Anne and Alec and all the individuals who have given to our collections to preserve our history for everyone, forever. We are deeply grateful.
Special thanks to Barbara Noyes-Stark, great-granddaughter of Herbert Everett, and Anne White for sharing information about the artist.
Susan C.S. Edwards is the retired Executive Director of the Museum of Old Newbury and a current member of the Collections Committee.
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Museum Bookstore Last minute shoppers - come in the museum's Fruit Street entrance this Thursday and Friday, 10am - 4pm for books on local history, calendars, gift memberships, and Museum of Old Newbury hats & totes. And cookies while they last! Also, the online store is always open - https://www.newburyhistory.org/shop
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Woman on the MOON
...a blog by Bethany Groff Dorau, Executive Director
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It’s three days before Christmas and I’m feeling blue. Scratch that. It’s three days before Christmas and I’m grieving. If you are feeling unequivocally merry and bright, you might want to give this post a miss. If, on the other hand, you are feeling out of step with the glitter and glitz of the holiday season, you’re in good company. |
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On Monday, we lost Cathy Strauss. There should be a descriptor after her name. I should say, Cathy Strauss, past co-president of the Museum of Old Newbury, or Cathy Strauss, friend to me and many others, or Cathy Strauss, beloved sister, mother, aunt. Cathy Strauss, master of the cheese plate, the devilled egg, the pigs in blankets, the arched eyebrow, the hearty laugh, the witty quip. Cathy sallied forth into the office here with a shout of “hello, lovely ducklings!”, or “hello, beautiful people!”, exclamations of delight at our very existence. She set the tone for what this museum is at its best – part garden party, and part disco inferno with fabulous art and excellent snacks. Cathy was very much at home at the Museum of Old Newbury. She had been a docent, a board member, and most recently, co-president. Her roots in Old Newbury go back centuries, a descendant of Hales and Littles and Tenneys and Marquands and Poores. Like me, she grew up “away”, but made a life for herself here, embracing the history and memory of her family, and for both of us, this connection had led us to the Museum of Old Newbury, where our circles grew deeper and wider. |
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Cathy Strauss speaking at the 2021 Annual Meeting in the Perkins Mint at the Museum of Old Newbury.
In the first moments of awakening this morning, when things were both softer and clearer for me, I brought Cathy’s face into my mind’s eye. She came into focus with her sisters, soon joined by my friend who just lost her father, another whose mother is disappearing into Alzheimer’s, dear friends who have lost soul companions, my own mother. Then, the letting go, the hard morning light, the pressing obligations. I went outside with a handful of carrots and spent some quiet moments with the animals.
Death, in all its forms, is a universal human experience. In a way, it is the most present reality of our work at the Museum of Old Newbury. Every day, we are thinking about people who have died, organizing their possessions, dusting their relics, looking into their faces in paintings, statues, photographs. We are talking to their children and grandchildren about who they were and what they left behind. The museum itself is a place where people make friends and meet neighbors, and it follows naturally that the loss of members of our community is deeply felt here as well. We are all swept along together in a deep river of friendship, love, and loss.
At the intersection of Low Street and Rte. 1, I pulled up to a red light and found myself unable to control the tears that had been building all morning. I do not cry often, but when I do, it’s not pretty. A quick glance to my right confirmed that there was a woman in the car next to me, looking away. I sniffled. She looked over. She was crying too. The two of us, complete strangers, both wearing holiday sweaters and jaunty scarves, had a moment together weeping uncontrollably, and then, recognizing the ridiculousness of it all, laughing together at a stop light.
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Cathy and her sister Beth share a secret at the Museum's 2022 Annual Meeting. Photo courtesy Bob Watts.
I took a detour after that. I drove down High Street into Newbury, pulled over in front of Coffin House, and crossed the street into the First Parish Burying Ground. I had a mission – I needed a picture of a stone for an upcoming story. But it was more than that. Standing among the people who have walked this bit of the earth over time comforts me. It reminds me that in our awareness of our mortality lies our essential humanness. Tonight, Ghlee Woodworth and I will lead a merry band of flashlight-wielding neighbors and friends through Oak Hill Cemetery on the longest night of the year. It will be dark and cold, but we will be together, travelling through time, lighting the path for each other, and celebrating our neighbors, living and dead.
I wish you comfort this holiday season, if you need it. If you have some to spare, share it with your neighbors. I will always smile when I think of Cathy, with her throaty chuckle and her perfect union of sass and class. We were lucky to be here with her.
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Something Is Always Cooking... |
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Stilton Yorkshire Pudding
- 2 tablespoons pan drippings (or butter)
- 1/2 cup Stilton cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
Preheat oven to 450F. Using a brush, evenly coat 6 (6 oz.) ramekins with pan drippings and put to one side. In a small bowl, blend cheese into a paste and set aside. In a medium bowl, use a mixer to beat the eggs until foamy. Add milk and salt. Gradually add flour and beat until batter is smooth. Stir in thyme and cheese. Place empty ramekins on a baking sheet and preheat in oven for 5 minutes. Evenly divide the mixture between the heated ramekins. Bake on middle shelf until browned and puffed, about 20 minutes. Serves 6. -Sally Chandler, from "Cushing House Cooks"
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Click the image to do the puzzle |
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"Old Ahl Museum, Boston." Watercolor by Herbert Edward Everett. Gift of Barbara Noyes-Stark. |
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The museum will be closed December 26 - January 2. Happy Holidays! |
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Museum e-Newsletter made possible through the
generosity of our sponsors:
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Museum of Old Newbury
98 High Street
Newburyport, MA 01950
978-462-2681
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