Exhibitions
Art of the Everyday: Painted Woodcarvings
May 25th - September 22, 2024
Visual artist Mary Michael Shelley uses low relief wood-carved texture and acrylic paint to give life, movement, and interest to her work.
Developed by the Arkell Museum, this dynamic exhibit focuses on New York State themes including agriculture, landscapes, lake views, and diners. Hand Digging the Erie Canal, a new piece created specifically for this exhibit, is a special feature. We are thrilled to announce that this work is now part of our permanent collection. A benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous donated funding specifically to purchase this piece. Come see it and more work by Mary Michael Shelley in this exhibit. Hand Digging the Erie Canal will also be on display next year when we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the completion of the Erie Canal.
Artist Mary Michael Shelley has lived in rural upstate New York for more than 50 years and is a frequent demonstrator at the Ithaca Farmers’ Market. Significant public collections that own work by Shelley include the Smithsonian and the National Museum of Women and the Arts (Washington, DC), the American Museum in Britain (Bath, England), the Museum of American Folk Art (NYC), the High Museum (Atlanta, GA), Women’s Rights National Historic Park (Seneca Fall, NY), and the Fenimore Art Museum (Cooperstown, NY).
Mary Michael Shelley
Hand Digging the Erie Canal, 2024
Carved pine, acrylic paint, and gold leaf
Museum Purchase with Donated Funds, 2024
You told me earlier in the year that some day you wanted a fine Inness…
Robert Macbeth to Bartlett Arkell, March 8, 1917
The Macbeth Gallery had a profound impact on the development of American art. It was the first gallery in New York City to focus on work by American artists, and held many ground-breaking exhibits. Today, the gallery is recognized for raising an interest in and creating a market for American art during its sixty-plus years as an influential firm (1892-1953). Our founder Bartlett Arkell made many important purchases at the Macbeth Gallery, and worked closely with gallery directors to build our extraordinary collection. This exhibit is a tribute to his vision for the future, and the early work of the Macbeth Gallery.
Extended into 2024, this popular exhibition features six Winslow Homer watercolors, two George Stuart portraits, and oil paintings of the Erie Canal. Also included in the exhibition are works by John Singer Sargent, George Bellows, Jon Corbino, Paul Sample, George Luks, and many more.
George Inness (1825-1894)
The Rainbow, ca. 1878
Oil on canvas
Arkell Museum Collection, Gift of Bartlett Arkell
Purchased by Bartlett Arkell from the Macbeth Gallery, 1934
Learn about the early history of the Beech-Nut Packing Company and their use of fine art in advertising. Learn more about the Arkell Family: their philanthropy, business interests, and more. Don't miss the full color garden party video filmed at the Arkell home! Step outside and enjoy the beauty of the Memorial Garden, designed by Bartlett Arkell and built in memory of his wife Louisanna Grigsby Arkell.
This gallery features late 19th and early 20th-century American paintings purchased by Bartlett Arkell, our founder and first president of the Beech-Nut Packing Company, specifically to share with his community. Works on display include all seven of our oil paintings by Winslow Homer (reunited after independent loans to Germany, Maine, and Massachusetts), and significant paintings by many distinguished American artists including William M. Chase, Childe Hassam, George Inness, and Albert Bierstadt. The inspiration of Bartlett Arkell, this original art gallery opened to the public in 1929, and was once accessed from the original stand-alone Library building through two doors. Today, these doors are windows providing Library patrons a glimpse into the gallery and Museum visitors a glimpse into the original Library (now our Reading Room). Also not to be missed in this gallery is the full scale copy of The Night Watch by Rembrandt, commissioned by Arkell specifically for this space, and on display today.
