Object Search Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
1976.1.1116 |
Object Name |
Painting |
Date |
1912 ca |
Artist/Author/Creator |
Caro-Delvaille, Henri |
Description |
This oil painting, by Henri Caro-Delvaille, is a preliminary study for a much larger portrait of the ladies of Blithewold. The women depicted are Bessie Van Wickle McKee and her two daughters, Marjorie and Augustine. Bessie is seated in a red chair; Marjorie and Augustine are in white dresses. This 17x13-inch canvas is signed at bottom in pencil, Henri Caro-Delvaille, with inscription in French. The artwork and frame are original; the mat and glass are modern archival materials. The backstory to this painting holds much intrigue, and is described in an article researched and written by Margaret Whitehead, Blithewold Curator. In 1912, the French impressionist portrait painter Henri Caro-Delvaille sailed from Cherbourg to New York on the SS France. Among his fellow passengers was Walter Kilham, an old friend of Bessie and William McKee, and the architect of Blithewold II. Walter Kilham had been in Paris with his wife Jane studying painting, and a friendship with Caro-Delvaille developed. Mrs. Kilham assured Caro-Delvaille that she had influence in Boston and would be able to secure him commissions. She subsequently introduced him to Bessie McKee, and shortly after, Caro-Delvaille painted a very large portrait of Bessie and her daughters for a fee of $10,000. The painting was so large that it resembled a mural, and was hung in the entrance hall of Blithewold where it covered most of the south wall. It is said that William McKee disliked the painting intensely and, according to the memoirs of Walter Kilham, Mr. McKee disliked Caro-Delvaille even more, "if such a thing was possible!" A few years later in the middle of winter when the mansion was empty, John Best, longtime caretaker of Blithewold, entered the house and discovered that the painting had been cut from its frame and was missing. Detectives were put on the case and a reward offered, but "nothing came of it" and the painting was never seen again. The theft has been the subject of much speculation, some wondering if it was an 'outside' or and 'inside' job! Walter Kilham wrote, "I have always had my own ideas about that affair." Photographs of the painting remain, along with this preliminary study for the painting that currently hangs in the upstairs hallway, to remind us of this intrigue. |
Materials |
Oil study on canvas board |
Condition |
Good |
Associated with |
Bessie Pardee Van Wickle McKee Marjorie Randolph Van Wickle Lyon Augustine Van Wickle Shaw Toland McKee, William Leander Best, John Family Tree, Immediate Family |
Search Terms |
Art Painting Painting, Oil Theft |
Catalog Sub-category |
Art |