AFA Winter 2019

Antiques & Fine Art 89 2019 Palmer went to France for a second time in 1876, to continue his studies with the celebrated portrait painter and instructor Charles- Émile-Auguste Carolus-Duran, who first instructed the young American painter two years earlier while he was in Paris with his father, the sculptor Erastus Dow Palmer, and other family members. On May 14, 1876, Palmer wrote to his friend and fellow painter Lockwood DeForest that he was trying his hand at pottery at the “Fabrique de Faience.” This recently acquired faïence cup, painted with a realistic botanical design and signed and dated 1876, may be the only surviving example of Palmer’s foray into ceramics. The dark line drawing used to define the outline of the plant relates closely to three pen and ink botanical studies dated 1875 in the Albany Institute’s collection. Apart from these and an early still life of fern leaves in a ceramic jar, Palmer rarely focused such detailed attention on plants, favoring instead to paint or draw them as representative types in outdoor settings. Although Palmer’s earliest paintings were winter landscapes, a subject he painted throughout his life, the first series to bring him recognition were his detailed views of domestic interiors. Palmer began painting house interiors in 1877, immediately after returning to the United States from his second period of study in Paris. This painting attracted favorable attention soon after its completion in 1878, both for Palmer’s meticulous attention to detail in the furnishings and for his perceptive and sensitive portrayal of the home’s owner, Albany banker Thomas Olcott, who sits reading in his library. Palmer received a commission for the painting from Olcott’s daughter, Mary Marvin Olcott, whose marble bust appears in the background near a painted Japanese screen in front of the parlor’s finely draped window. By including the bust, Palmer not only paid tribute to his patron but also incorporated a sculpted work by his father. The painting went on public view in June 1878 at Annesley and Vint Art Gallery in Albany. Faïence Cup. Decoration by Walter Launt Palmer (1854–1932), 1876. Glazed earthenware. Albany Institute of History & Art Purchase (2018.52). Walter Launt Palmer (1854–1932), Library at Arbour Hill, 1878. Oil on canvas, 25½ x 20¼ inches. Albany Institute of History & Art; Gift of the heirs of the estate of Robert W. Olcott (1947.56.4).