Migration at Sunset, ca. 1880, oil on canvas, 18 x 24 in. Framed by Gill & Lagodich for the Chrysler Museum of Art. Period c. 1880s American Barbizon painting frame; gilded applied composition ornament on wood, molding width: 3-1/4 in. “As the sun sets on a lush landscape, a single shepherd guides his flock home from their daily pasture. The rich earth, sturdy trees, and swirling hues of the sky form a pastoral vision and strong antidote to the urban realities of the industrializing United States. This picture of unity between human labor and the natural world was the hallmark of the American Barbizon School. Edward Mitchell Bannister was a leading figure of the movement and one of the most successful African American painters of the nineteenth century. The American school adopted much of its style and imagery from French predecessors like François Millet and Theodore Rousseau.” —museum label.

It’s Very Queer Isn’t It?, 1885, oil on canvas, 32-1/8” x 26-1/16” Framed by Gill & Lagodich for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; Period c. 1880s-1900 American Watts-style painting frame; gilded applied composition ornament with gilded quarter-sawn oak panel. Excellent original gilding and patina. Molding width: 5-1/2”

The Fisherman, 1917, oil on canvas, 30-1/8” x 44”. Framed by Gill & Lagodich for the Amon Carter Museum. Period Frame, c. 1910-20 American Arts and Crafts painting frame, metal-gilded hand-carved wood, molding width 5-1/4” “As one of the artist’s last masterworks of the sea, this painting represents Bellows’ passion for fishing as a physical and spiritual sport. Created during a trip to Carmel, California, the artist suggests the timeless struggle between man and nature through the lone fisherman casting his line into the powerful surf at Point Lobos. The artist’s exuberant brushstrokes and brilliant palette amplify the contrasting motions of the ocean and angler. Bellows probably modeled the fisherman after himself. As a solitary figure trying to maneuver his fishing pole against the crashing waves, he is a metaphor for the artist, who considered the sea one of the most challenging themes to capture on canvas.” —Amon Carter Museum, permanent collection label.

The Milliners, 1921, oil on canvas, 40- 1/4 × 50-1/4 in. Framed by Gill & Lagodich for the Art Institute of Chicago. Custom-made replica c. 1920s American Arts and Crafts frame, Newcomb-Macklin New York/ Chicago makers, metal-gilded hand-carved wood with ebonized frieze, molding width: 5-3/8 in. “In The Milliners, Theresa Bernstein explored the aesthetic qualities of community and concentration, depicting a group of women sewing accessories on hats. The window at upper left suggests that they are in a city apartment, and therefore undertaking piecework at home to earn extra income. An important voice in early American modernism, Bernstein celebrated the vibrancy and dignity of immigrant and working-class experiences in 20th-century New York. Born in Krakow, she trained at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, a noted center for female professionalism in the arts. Bernstein pursued a dynamic style of realism throughout her long career, working well past the age of 100.”—Art Institute label. Painting through prior bequest of Arthur Rubloff.

Canvassing For A Vote, 1852, oil on canvas, 25-1/4" x 30-1/2", museum period frame cleaned and restored by Gill & Lagodich for the Nelson-Atkins Museum. Painting purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust.

The Song of the Lark, 1884, oil on canvas, 43-1/2” x 33-3/4”, 19th-century Barbizon  frame; molding width 6-7/8".  Art Institute of Chicago. Period frame from Gill & Lagodich. Painting Henry Field Memorial Collection.

Yellowstone Falls, 1881, oil on canvas, 22 x 14 inches. Framed by Gill & Lagodich for the Colby Museum of Art. c. 1900 European painting frame, ebonized wood, gilded liner, molding width 3-1/8 in. “Born to free black parents in 1841 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Brown moved to California as a young man where he began a career as a lithographer and taught himself to paint. He worked in Yosemite and Yellowstone national parks between 1886 and 1893. In Yellowstone he regularly painted the park’s ‘Grand Canyon,’ depicting the gushing waters of Yellowstone Falls and the glistening golden-brown rocks of the canyon walls, pictured here. The recently completed Northern Pacific Railroad had made the park a destination for tourism. Brown exhibited his art in area hotels and received promotional support from Norther Pacific. Today he is known as the first African-American painter of the national park system, but other African-Americans interpreted the parks for the public as well. At this time the U.S. Army managed the parks and assigned African-American regiments to many of them. These soldiers acted not only as guards but also as guides, offering visitors their interpretations of the parks’ natural history.” —museum label. Painting: Museum purchase from the William A. Oates, Jr. Fund for American Western Art and gift of Marjorie M. Fisher

Pull For The Shore, 1878, oil on canvas, 34-1/8" x 56-1/8" framed by Gill & Lagodich for the Chrysler Museum of Art, in a second-half 19th century painting frame, stained wood outer molding element with applied solid mahogany; gilded applied composition ornament and sand on wood. Molding width: 4-5/8” "In this ideal of teamwork, old and young row in unison to bring their tiny craft home through swelling seas. John George Brown based Pull for the Shore on sketches made on Grand Manan Island off the far northern coastline of Maine. Each face is a portrait of a local fisherman whom Brown met and sketched, but this epic New England battle of man against nature also may address American politics of the Reconstuction era. Following decades of sectional conflict and the violence of the Civil War, North and South struggled in the 1870s to heal the nation's wounds and work together toward prosperous future." — permanent collection label. Painting gift of Walter P. Chrysler 71.552

Free Women of Color with Their Children and Servants in a Landscape, ca. 1770-1796, oil on canvas, 20 x 26 1/8 in. (50.8 x 66.4 cm). Period frame from Gill & Lagodich for the Brooklyn Museum: 19th century French, gilded carved wood and applied composition ornament, molding width 2-7/8 in. “Here, on the grounds of a Caribbean sugar plantation, two luxuriously dressed mixed-race sisters enjoy a walk with their mother, children, and eight African servants. After the Seven Years’ War (1754–63), the British government sent the Roman painter Agostino Brunias to Dominica, one of its newly acquired Caribbean territories. Although Brunias was originally commissioned to promote upper-class plantation life, his paintings soon exposed the artificialities of the region’s racial hierarchies.” —Museum label. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. Carll H. de Silver in memory of her husband, by exchange and gift of George S. Hellman, by exchange, 2010.59

Olga E. Gardner, 1888, oil on canvas, 63 x 43-1/2 inches, c. 1880s American Barbizon frame, gilded cast and applied ornament on wood, molding width 9 inches. Period frame from Gill & Lagodich.