ANTIQUE PATRIOTIC PAINTING BY HENRIK HILLBOM

This wonderful oil on canvas painting is ca 1910 and was painted during the first world war. It shows a standing liberty figure, a man a woman, baby, child, eagle and cornucopia and much more. Note the patriotic influence of Impressionist Childe Hassam one of Hillbom's compatriots at The Old Lyme Colony who also painted in the patriotic impressionist style.

Hillbom was a member of the Old Lyme Colony school of artists, gaining its name due to the large number of painters in then living in Old Lyme, Connecticut, which became the first major art colony in America to encourage Impressionism. Old Lyme was accessible to its New York City-based painters by excellent rail service and was also located at the confluence of the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound.

The period of its greatest activity was 1900 to 1915. In 1903, the arrival at Old Lyme of well-known American impressionist Childe Hassam caused the previous tonalist influence of Ranger to dwindle and the colony become a bastion of Impressionism.

The Florence Griswold House, now a museum devoted to the work of its former occupants, was the gathering place for these artists.

 

This painting measures 30" H x 24" W. The colors are marvelous. It has been brought back to its original vibrancy by Page Conservation in Washington DC, restorers for the National Gallery of Art and other museums around the country. It is a real treasure.

Please note, there are many imperfections in these photos that appear due to the flash photography, The painting holds together much better than these pictures depict.

Please note: I have recently learned from the President of the Wallingford (CT) Historic Preservation Trust, that Wallingford CT is the small town in Connecticut where Henrik Hillbom lived.

In going to askart.com I found out this additional information on Henrik Hillbom. He lived from 1863 to 1948.Active as a landscape painter and silver designer, he lived in Wallingford and Lyme, Connecticut.

He was born in Sweden and studied in Paris with Benjamin Constant and Jules Lefebvre.

He exhibited at the Minneapolis Art Institute and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.



Books where you can find out more about Henrik Hillbom; The Artists Bluebook; Who Was Who in American Art 1964-1975 3 Vols;* Annual Exhibition Record, 1914-68 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Mantle Fielding's Dictionary American Painters, Sculptors et al, Who Was Who in American Art, Pennsylvania Academy Moderns