COVER STORY Jane Peterson: At Home and Abroad opens at the LIM BY HEIDI SUTTON

fter a brief hiatus in January, the Long Island Museum in A Stony Brook opens its 2018 season with a new trav- eling exhibition featuring the works of artist Jane Peterson. Titled Jane Peterson: At Home and Abroad, it was organized by the Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, Conneticut, and was initially on view there from November 2107 to Jan- uary of this year. The show, which opened last weekend in the Art Museum on the hill, will run through April 22 and will be accompanied by a number of gallery tours, workshops and other public programs. Jane Peterson was a modernist painter whose artistic journey provided a vital link between the impressionist and expressionist art movements in the United States. Born in Elgin, Illinois, in 1876, her love of art led her to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and after graduation she studied oil and watercolor painting at the Art Students League in New York City. Peterson went on to have a for- Images courtesy of Long Island Museum and Mattatuck Museum midable and successful career as an award- Above, ‘Lure of the Butterfly,’ c. 1914-15, oil on canvas, private collection; winning artist and was featured in more above right, ‘Girl with Fruit,’ c. 1914, oil on canvas, collection of Mr. and Mrs. Dale B. Finfrock; right, Jane Peterson sketching on the beach, Jane Peterson than 80 solo exhibitions until her death in Papers, 1907-1981, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. 1965 at the age of 88. Today her artwork can be found all over the country in various museums, galleries, institutions and in the ‘My great and absorbing passion is the love of beauty. hands of private collectors. Beautiful things give me pleasure. As fine art is the For those of you who have never heard of Jane Peterson you are not alone. But her application of the principle of aesthetics or beauty, artwork is so extraordinary that the public painting has especially appealed to me as an outlet.’ deserves to be enlightened and that is pre- cisely why this show was created, accord- ­— JANE PETERSON INTERVIEW WITH THE GARDEN MAGAZINE, 1922 ing to its curator, Cynthia Roznoy of the and versatile shewas as an artist. “What I the show. Preferring to work Mattatuck Museum. learned about her is her scope of technique,” in oil, watercolor, gouache “From the time of her one-person show she said. “I always admire an artist who and charcoal, the artist often in Boston in 1909 Peterson exhibited fre- evolves — who doesn’t do the same sort of combined a few of the medi- quently right through the 1950s when she paintings all the time … [Peterson] never ums together to create color- is already in her 70s,” said Roznoy during stopped learning and she loved to study and ful, vibrant scenes. a recent phone interview. “During the high to learn from other artists and also she al- As a whole, Roznoy is point of her career from the teens through ways enjoyed expanding her repertoire … personally most impressed the 30s she had multiple exhibitions a her style, her subject matter, her interests with Peterson’s Glouchester year. By the 1950s she had one exhibition all changed as she developed, professionally street scenes. “I think they Roznoy hopes visitors to the exhibit will per year, but that was still a great accom- and personally.” are the most enchanting works in the ex- see Jane Peterson as a conduit to modern- plishment for a woman painter at the turn The decision to turn the show into a hibition. They’re just beautifully painted, ism in the early 20th century, gather enjoy- of the century.” traveling exhibit was an easy one for the with very intricate composition.” She also ment of her work and also experience “a According to Roznoy, the idea to create a curator. “There were a couple of reasons. enjoyed investigating the Tiffany garden sense of satisfaction in seeing a woman in solo exhibit on Jane Peterson occurred rather The first one was our perceived notion that paintings. “The link was very interesting the early 20th century succeed.” serendipitously. While visiting the Liros Gal- she was an artist who deserved to be bet- to me because of Tiffany [and] the fact The Long Island Museum, a Smithson- lery in Blue Hill, Maine, in 2013, the direc- ter known and one way to do that was to that he would invite artists to Laurelton ian affiliate, is located at 1200 Route 25A in tor of the Mattatuck Museum, Robert Burns, travel it. Another one was after 45 years Hall and Peterson was one of the artists Stony Brook. The museum is open Thursday to was immediately drawn to two paintings by this is the first retrospective exhibition and who painted the gardens.” Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday Peterson. Intrigued, he purchased one of the it is the first museum exhibition and we felt “It’s just a great exhibit. We are very from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $10 adults, works, “Tiger Lilies,” and upon returning to other museums would be interested in do- thrilled to have it,” said Joshua Ruff, cura- $7 seniors, $5 students, children under 6 free. the museum asked Roznoy if she had ever ing so. Once we started talking to other in- tor at the Long Island Museum during a re- For more information, call 631-751-0066 or heard of this artist. She had not and after stitutions, everyone said ‘Great idea! Why cent tour. “She’s not a name but boy she was visit www.longislandmuseum.org. some quick research “we decided it was time didn’t we think of this before?’ So it was good,” he gushed. “It’s always exciting to do to do a show and bring her back to public like tapping into that zeitgeist where ev- a [solo] exhibition about an artist [that peo- recognition,” said the curator. eryone says yes, time to do it, and we were ple are not familiar with].” Roznoy agreed, On the cover: Jane Peterson: At Home and Abroad the ones to get it started,” said Roznoy. saying “It is every curator’s wish to find ‘Tiffany’s brings 85 of Peterson’s incredible paintings Entering the art museum at the LIM, a an underknown artist and to bring them Garden,’ c. together for the first time in over 45 years lovely portrait of Peterson by Elsie South- to public attention and there is that whole 1913, water- along with photographs and archives that wick Clark beckons you to explore the life scholarly pursuit that is so satisfying.” color and provide a glimpse into her personal life. An and art of this American master. Divided An accompanying catalog, written by gouache on paper, enormous undertaking, the process took two into several sections, the exhibit explores Roznoy and Arlene Katz Nichols with an Long Island years to complete and included the collabo- Peterson’s early years; her travels to Europe introduction by J. Jonathan Joseph and a Museum, as well as Egypt and Turkey; her home cit- ration of over 30 museums including Hofstra foreword from Burns, is available for sale in gift of the University Museum in Hempstead, the Met- ies of New York, Palm Beach and Glouches- the LIM gift shop or at www.mattmuseum. Estate of ropolitan Museum of Art in New York City ter, Massachusetts; portraits of women; org. After April 22 the exhibit will travel to Miriam and the Brooklyn Museum as well as many her floral still lifes; and the grand gardens the Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, Godofsky galleries and private collectors nationwide. of Laurelton Hall, Louis C. Tiffany’s Oyster South Carolina, from May 13 to July 22 and Image courtesy While researching Peterson, Roznoy Bay estate. The Long Island Museum con- then head upstate to The Hyde Collection in of LIM was most impressed by how evolutionary tributed Peterson’s “Tiffany’s Garden” to Glens Falls from Aug. 5 to Oct. 14.