Shadows and Light: Seeing Senescence in British and American Genre Painting, ca.1850-1910 Lauren Palmor A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2016 Reading Committee: Susan P. Casteras, Chair Joe Butwin Stuart Lingo Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Art History ©Copyright 2016 Lauren Palmor University of Washington Abstract Shadows and Light: Seeing Senescence in British and American Genre Painting, ca.1850-1910 Lauren Palmor Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Professor Susan P. Casteras Art History This study suggests the potential benefits of enhanced sensitivity towards aging in the history of art. Cultural representations of senescence in nineteenth-century genre painting, whether drawn from scenes of the hearthside, chaperonage, age-disparate coupling, or cross-generational play, provide the visual material from which a general perception of the life course can be drawn. The argument at the center of this study is that something is to be gained for Anglo-American art history from age studies and its related phenomena. Age articulates difference, and abandoning mono-generational research perspectives might sharpen our awareness of the role this difference plays in visual culture. There are unique challenges that one must responsibly address when prying into the omissions and oversights within a discipline, and the thematic image groupings which comprise the chapters of this study were selected to present a survey of the signifiers of old age without adhering to a simple story line. Both American and British visual culture demonstrate instances of lack and plenty in relation to the complex notions of Victorian aging, and ageism in the historiography of art can be made much clearer by reading this evidence with intention and respect. By electing to use the life cycle to appraise and navigate Victorian genre painting, historians of British and American painting would acknowledge the basic notion that ageism is perhaps the most neglected and socially permitted discriminatory system. An assessment of nineteenth-century visual culture designed by this supposition is bound to reveal significant and instructive truths. Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to Lee MacCormick Edwards A woman of immense warmth, spirit, and generosity A truly great teacher Acknowledgements This dissertation grew out of a graduate seminar with Professor Susan P. Casteras in the autumn of 2012. The manner in which she encouraged her doctoral students to consider Victorian bodies, beliefs, and identities laid the foundation for this study. Professor Casteras models an ideal art historical methodology that seeks to uncover neglected and underrepresented narratives in British and American art, and I remain emboldened by her support of this project and my parallel professional pursuits. Other faculty members at the University of Washington generously offered their time and support. Special thanks to the members of my committee, Joe Butwin, Stuart Lingo, and Mona Modiano, who all gave freely of their time and kindness. I would like to express particular gratitude for Professor Butwin’s friendship – over many cups of coffee and circuitous conversations about popular culture, I found answers to questions that I never knew I needed to ask. Marek Wieczorek’s graduate seminars routinely challenged me and inspired me to dedicate myself to a compassionate and responsible art historical practice. A number of animated conversations with Paul Berger sustained me throughout the taxing course of my doctoral exams. Kathleen Woodward, a beloved trailblazer in the field of age studies, was especially kind towards this project in the early stages of its development. She generously gave me a few important age studies books, which later overwhelmed me with a sense of urgency. She helped me to understand the very real substance of ageism, and her work made me feel compelled to fight this last socially acceptable form of discrimination within my own discipline. Ann Langford-Fuchs in the University of Washington School of Art provided reliable counsel and constant reassurance. Her practical support was invaluable, and she is a precious gem in the SoA’s crown. Allan and Mary Kollar ensured that my work received vital support, and their dedication to fostering scholars of American art is unparalleled. The Kollar Fellowship, which I held from 2013-2015, was the most personally meaningful source of funding that I received. The Graduate School Presidential Dissertation Fellowship, provided by the University President, aided the final stages of writing and completing this dissertation. My colleagues in the American Art Department at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco motivated me to finish this project and transition into the next stages of my career. Timothy Anglin Burgard, Jane Glover, Abby Dansiger, and Emma Acker all nudged me towards the end of this undertaking in myriad ways. A summer fellowship in the Center for American Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art gave me a rare opportunity to study in one of the greatest collections of American art, and Kathy Foster and Mark Mitchell both acted as extraordinary mentors. To have encountered only of these remarkable curators and teachers would have been enough – to learn from both Kathy and Mark in the same summer was a true gift. Laura Fravel, my “fellow fellow” at the PMA, was the kindest and most stimulating sounding board any graduate student could have ever wished for. I am so lucky to have befriended a truly great future leader in the field of American art history. Following my summer in Philadelphia, I spent a semester in Delaware in residence as a Dissertation Research Fellow at Winterthur. It was one of the most challenging and rewarding scholarly experiences I could have ever undertaken, and I thank the legion of compassionate and knowledgeable members of the Winterthur community who guided this study. My deepest gratitude is extended to Rosemary Krill, formerly of Winterthur’s academic programs. Rosemary helped with scholarly questions and practical concerns, from reading abstracts to driving fellows to the grocery store. Her ceaseless generosity sustained all of us in Foulsham House. Special thanks are also due to the unparalleled library staff, especially Emilie Guthrie, Lauri Perkins, Jeanne Solensky, and Laura Parrish, who made so many vital materials available and navigable. Thanks to Spencer Wigmore of the University of Delaware for pulling prints for me in the Winterthur collection and for making the time to guide me around the house looking for relevant objects – thanks are also due to Christian Roden for contributing to my tour of Henry Francis Du Pont’s collections. Thanks to Catharine Dann Roeber for allowing me to shadow the paintings block with the Material Culture MA students and for providing additional research guidance and suggestions. Finally, thanks to Kate Fama and Claire Blakey for being wonderful colleagues. The Winterthur fellowship was a mighty unique experience, and I am glad to have shared it with you. So many curators, collectors, archivists, and dealers contributed to the development of my research and writing, and I only hope that I can thank them all sufficiently here. First, I would like to extend the kindest thanks to Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker of the Frye Art Museum. Jo-Anne taught me how to produce scholarly texts in a fierce and gracious manner, and I thank her for including me in some very fine catalogue projects that later helped me map the process of producing a dissertation. Thanks to Patti Junker of the Seattle Art Museum for speaking with me during the early stages of this project’s development. Patti asked me important questions and gave valuable suggestions at an important juncture. Thanks to Eleanor Jones Harvey at the Smithsonian American Art Museum for helping me trim some impossible chapter ideas, also at a very early stage. Judy Sourlaki, Curator of Collections at the Henry Art Gallery, provided similar guidance, and I thank her for stopping me from attempting some difficult age studies and fashion theory work, which I hope to revisit in a future study. Michele Marincola and Sarah Barack both taught me about looking at objects properly over the course of a Mellon Summer Institute in Technical Art History at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. Thanks to Hugh Lewis of the Bushey Museum for allowing me complete unrestricted access to the works of Hubert von Herkomer – it was a profound experience and a tribute to my greatest teacher, Lee MacCormick Edwards. Katherine W. Baumgartner, Director of Godel & Co., New York, shared significant images and important catalogue essays. Debra Force, of Debra Force Fine Art, New York, provided images and information related to F.O.C. Darley. Catherine Aurora, Assistant Registrar of the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, shared significant insight about Henry Mosler. Niki Tiliakos, of Lark Mason Associates, New York, aided my research on George W. Brenneman. Hannah Brignell, Curator of Visual Art at the Graves Gallery, Museums Sheffield provided assistance with research related to Alexander Hohenlohe Burr. Dave McMurray of Lethbridge College, Alberta, an expert on Victorian female anglers, answered my questions about Alfred Wordsworth Thompson with patience and enthusiasm. Katherine McClung-Oakes, Curator at the Bury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre, shared her records related to Carlton Alfred Smith. Angela Clare, Collections Officer of the Calderdale Museums Service sent me information on Arthur Stocks. C. Duncan Connelly, of Thirteenth Colony Arts in Atlanta was exceptionally generous with images and information related to Alfred Wordsworth Thompson’s No Fool Like an Old Fool. Bill Patterson, Archivist for the Philadelphia Sketch Club, kindly copied records related to William E. Winner’s Home From School, which became a favorite object over the course of my research. Thanks to Susan G. Drinan, Registrar of the Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, for helping me visit Winner’s picture in offsite storage.