Mural: left panel |
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Object Description
| Brief description | Claggett Wilson, Chariot of Fire mural, 1939. |
| Object name | Mural painting |
| Maker | Wilson, Claggett, 1887-1952 |
| Date | 1939 |
| Original location | Genesee Depot, Waukesha County, Wisconsin |
| Current location | Genesee Depot, Waukesha County, Wisconsin |
| Description | "Elijah and the Chariot of Fire" mural painted directly on the wall over the fireplace in the parlor of the Main House at Ten Chimneys, Genesee Depot, Wisconsin. A bearded figure in blue ascends skyward in a chariot pulled by two gray horses. Gray painted smoke extends up the wall, over the crown molding, and onto the ceiling. The vignette is bordered by a painted frame in gold and orange and flanked by two smaller vignettes also depicting Biblical scenes. Crown molding found above the image and throughout the parlor is painted with baskets of fruit and acanthus leaves. |
| History | In 1938, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne brought Claggett Wilson, an artist and Broadway set designer, to Genesee Depot, Wisconsin to create decorative paintings and interior decoration in the Main House at Ten Chimneys, their summer home. Over the course of two years, Wilson created fanciful wall paintings throughout the house, including the main entryway, dining room, "flirtation room" and, as shown here, Biblical scenes in the formal parlor. In an interview conducted by Ten Chimneys staff in 1998, local resident John Hale recalled working as Wilson's assistant. Hale described Wilson's working method: "He had tracing paper galore, and then he'd . . . draw things in pencil and then some of them in color and just do it on tracing paper . . . and then if he was satisfied with it, then he'd use that as a guide in his painting." Hale also recalled being sent to "a used furniture place in Waukesha" where he acquired a reclining Morris chair, which Wilson used atop a scaffolding in order to paint the ceilings (this chair is visible in images of Wilson at work on the parlor). |
| Sources | Additional examples of Wilson's work and views of the artist at work on the murals in the parlor at Ten Chimneys are available at http://claggettwilson.com (accessed June 17, 2010). See also "Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt of Genesee, Wisconsin" Vogue (May 1940) and James Auer, "A warm, colorful legacy: Artist Claggett Wilson's work lives on at Ten Chimneys" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, July 14, 2003 (available onlilne via Google News, accessed June 17, 2010): http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=p7QaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RkQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5662%2C3069981 A transcription of the oral history interview with John Hale, July 1, 1998, is on file at Ten Chimneys Foundation. |
| Related objects | Jacob's Ladder mural: http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/u?/wda,2827 David and King Saul and Elijah in the Wilderness murals: http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/u?/wda,2824 Burning Bush mural: http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/u?/wda,2830 |
| Owner | Ten Chimneys Foundation |
| Rights | (c) 2010 by Ten Chimneys Foundation. Contact the owner for more information. http://www.tenchimneys.org/ |
| Digital collection | Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database |
| Digital identifier | TC006 |
| Digital format | XML |
| Type | Physical object |
| Keywords | Mural paintings (visual works); Paintings (visual works); Visual works; Visual and verbal communication; Art |
| Date digitized | 2010-06-17 |
| Date modified | 2010-09-27 |
Description
| Object name | Mural: left panel |
| Rights | (c) 2010 by Ten Chimneys Foundation. Contact the owner for more information. http://www.tenchimneys.org/ |
| Digital collection | Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database |
| Digital identifier | TC006a |
| Digital format | image/jpeg |
| Type | Physical object |
| Date digitized | 2010-06-17 |
| Date modified | 2010-06-17 |
