Collecting American Art

Back when the founding members
of the Palette and Chisel
were gathering in Lorado Taft's studio,
his friend, Robert Vonnoh,
was the hottest painter in town.

They had met each other in Paris,
and Vonnoh went on to teach
at the Philadelphia Academy
(his students included
Robert Henri, John Sloan, and William Glackens)

Vonnoh came to Chicago
to show his paintings at the
Columbian Exposition of 1893,
and got so many portrait commissions
he stuck around until 1899.

Nine of those commissions
are now slumbering in the basement
of the Chicago Historical Society.

But one of them,
the above portrait of young
Jerome Orrel Eddy,
is now on display at
Madron Gallery
where it comes from the collection
of one Val Yachik,
President-for-life
of the Palette and Chisel Academy.

(And it's one of the best paintings
in the show)

BTW,
this is the last chance
you will ever have
to see a retrospective
of this painter,
and it is definitely worth
the two mile stroll
from our studio.