BELMONT — Last month, 16 more paintings were added to the large studio at the T.C. Steele State Historic Site, 4220 T.C. Steele Road.
Of the 16 paintings rotated in on Sept. 29, three have not been viewed by the public since the mid-1980s, according to Marc Allan, the director of communications for the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites.
The conservation and research of the paintings was overseen by Arts and Culture Collection Manager Meredith McGovern and Senior Curator of Art and History Mark Ruschman.
Around 350 works by Hoosier artist Steele have been acquired by the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites. At any given time roughly 50 to 60 paintings are on display at the site, the museum or on loan to the Indiana Statehouse and other institutions, according to Allan.
At age 60, Theodore Steele, an impressionist painter, moved to the wooded, abandoned farm on the western edge of Brown County from the city with hopes of becoming a recluse with his new wife.
While living at the property from 1907 to 1926, Steele produced a body of work that not only caught the attention of other city artists longing for a more serene setting, but also propelled him into national recognition as a landscape and portrait painter.
Steele is credited with starting the movement that molded Brown County into the Art Colony of the Midwest.
Visitors have plenty of time to check out the new additions because the 16 paintings will be on display for the next three years.
The newly displayed paintings include:
“Flowers,” which is thought to be the last painting Steele worked on prior to his death in 1926. It’s considered unfinished. It depicts peonies and irises from gardens created by his wife, Selma. On the back of a photo of this piece in the museum’s archive, Selma wrote, “His last effort in the garden.”
“From the West Porch, Salt Creek Valley” is a view of the House of the Singing Winds. This painting shows the west wing, which was added to the residence in 1908. That was T.C.’s studio in his residence until they built the large studio.
An untitled still life painting will also be displayed, which is not signed or dated. It depicts sunflowers in a round, white vase. In researching this piece, McGovern found a similar piece owned by Newfields in Indianapolis. Theirs is also unsigned and undated, but they suspect it was painted between 1880 and 1885 in Munich when Steele was using a dark palette.
“Forest Inferior” is the title Selma gave this undated painting in her 1926 inventory. It is a summer landscape of Brown County.
“Blue Sky” or “A Stroll Through the Woods” was completed in 1908 and has two names. In 1926, Selma titled it “Blue Sky.” In 1945, the title attributed to it was “A Stroll Through the Woods.”
“Yes, the sky is blue in the painting, but the new title tells us much more about what’s happening in this painting, which features a woman dressed in a white hat and yellow dress with a white apron holding the hand of a child dressed in blue as they walk through a grove of trees,” Allan said.
