Dawn

Object Details

Artist

Dwight William Tryon (1849-1925)

Label

In 1891, Tryon offered to paint a picture or two for the house Charles Lang Freer was building in Detroit, "a dream of Beauty," as it was described, "inside and out." Freer readily accepted Tryon's offer, and before long the commission had grown to include seven paintings for the main hall: Summer (F1893.15), Autumn (F1893.16), Winter (F1893.17), Springtime (F1893.14) and Dawn. In these "decorations," as Tryon called these paintings, the artist attempted to maintain the classic "purity" of the interior design by keeping a consistent horizon in every scene. Although some of the paintings were occassionaly exhibited separately, Freer and Tryon always regarded them as an "ensemble."

Dawn was the final painting in the decorative cycle for Freer's hall, where it hung above one mantel of a doublesided fireplace. Dawn was conceived as a site-specific work, but Tryon and Freer also anticipated its periodic absence. The space behind the picture was paneled in oak so that, as the artist explained to Freer, "when the picture is removed (for exhibition and other uses) the room will appear complete." At Tryon's request, Freer lent Dawn to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1901, to a solo exhibition in New York in 1903, and to a "small tasteful" showing of works by Dewing and Tryon in New York in 1907.

Provenance

From 1893 to 1919

Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from the artist, Dwight William Tryon in 1893 [1]

From 1920

Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]

Notes:

[1] Purchased from Dwight William Tryon on April 12, 1893 (see Curatorial Remark 5, Linda Merrill, May 1989, in the object record).

[2] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

Collection

Freer Gallery of Art Collection

Exhibition History

Surface Beauty: American Art and Freer's Aesthetic Vision (February 23, 2008 to August 1, 2010)

Choice Spirits: Works by Thomas Dewing and Dwight Tryon (March 9, 1996 to July 7, 1997)

American Art - Dwight William Tryon (May 9, 1993 to February 20, 1996)

Exhibition of Paintings by T.W. Dewing and D.W. Tryon, Montross Gallery, New York, 1907 (February 20 to March 9, 1907)

The Seventieth Annual Exhibition (January 14 to February 23, 1901)

Previous custodian or owner

Dwight William Tryon (1849-1925) (C.L. Freer source)

Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

Credit Line

Gift of Charles Lang Freer

1893

Accession Number

F1906.86a-b

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Painting

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

H x W: 71 x 154.6 cm (27 15/16 x 60 7/8 in)

Origin

United States

Related Online Resources

Google Cultural Institute

See more items in

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Topic

landscape

sunrise

United States

American Art

Charles Lang Freer collection

Record ID

fsg_F1906.86a-b

Metadata Usage (text)

Not determined

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye396ed5d45-902d-4c82-876b-02528ef76624