Guy Carleton Wiggins (American, 1883-1962),Snow Storm at the Plaza/View of the Pulitzer Memorial Fountain, also called the Fountain o

Description:

Guy Carleton Wiggins (American, 1883-1962)

Snow Storm at the Plaza/View of the Pulitzer Memorial Fountain, also called the "Fountain of Abundance" in Grand Army Park, New York
Signed "Guy Wiggins NA" l.r., titled and signed on the reverse.
Oil on canvas, 25 x 31 in. (63.5 x 78.7 cm),framed.
Condition: Minute loss u.l., craquelure, mild surface grime.

Provenance: A private New England collection.

N.B. The son of well-known landscape painter Carleton Wiggins, Guy C. Wiggins was able to learn the art of painting early at his father's side. He first studied architecture and drawing at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, then studied at the National Academy of Design with William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri. His training in architecture may have influenced his affinity for New York cityscapes.
Wiggins started producing images of New York under snowfall in the 1920s. In an interview from 1924 Wiggins described how he was sitting in his New York studio on a snowy winter day trying, unsuccessfully, to paint a summer landscape. He said "I sat idly looking out of a window at nothing. Suddenly I saw what was before me..."(1) Wiggins was enthralled by the hazy views of New York buildings seen through gusts of white snow. While the majority of these views date to the early 1920s, he revisited the subject from time to time and once told someone that New York during a snowfall was his favorite subject.(2)

1. Connecticut and American Impressionism: a cooperative exhibition project concurrently in three locations, Storrs: William Benton Museum of Art, 1980, p. 179.
2. Ibid.


Estimate $25,000-35,000

The loss to the corner is about 1/8 inch. The craquelure seems stable, but does have some areas of subtle cupping. The painting would benefit from cleaning.

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