Washington County Museum of Fine Arts (WCMFA) is an art museum located in Hagerstown, Maryland,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The building is located off Park Circle and serves as a centerpiece in

Hagerstown City Park Hagerstown City Park is a urban park, public urban park just southwest of the central business district of Hagerstown, Maryland, United States. The park is located at the junction of Virginia Avenue, Key Street, Walnut Street, Prospect Street, ...

. The museum was donated in 1929, by Mr. and Mrs. William Singer, Jr. It was completed in 1931, and two wings were added in 1949. The museum provides residents and visitors with access to a nationally recognized permanent collection and a rotating schedule of exhibitions, musical concerts, lectures, films, art classes and special events for children and adults throughout the year. The collections include 19th & early 20th Century American Art, Old Masters, and Decorative art. Washington County Museum of Fine Arts has no entrance fee, and relies on public and private donations. The museum is accredited by the

American Alliance of Museums American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

(AAM).

History of the museum

The New York architectural firm of Hyde & Shepherd designed the original building for the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. Built in the neo-Georgian style, the building is red brick trimmed with local limestone. The original facade features the museum's name inscribed in large capitals flanked by rosettes. Inset in the rooftop balustrade, a panel showing an artist's palette further denotes the building's use. Founder Anna Singer frequently referred to the original structure as the “first unit” of the building. She followed through with this plan for enlargement with her 1946 offer to fund two new wings, which were completed in 1949. A later addition, begun in 1994, formed an open courtyard around the original entrance. The cornerstone was placed on July 15, 1930, and the museum opened its doors to the public on September 16, 1931. Since then, the museum's collection has grown to over 6,000 art objects. Hagerstown Museum

Founders

While the artist, William Henry Singer, Jr., and his wife, Anna Brugh Singer, lived most of their lives in Europe, the couple bestowed a rare legacy on the people of Washington County. In 1931, the Singers gave the Museum of Fine Arts to the community along with a substantial collection of American and European art. The gift was motivated by Anna's deep affection towards her hometown of Hagerstown. The couple continued to make gifts to the museum throughout their lives. In 1949, Anna greatly expanded the original museum with the addition of two wings given as a memorial to her late husband. The Singers traveled throughout the United States and Europe, making friends with artists and gaining exposure to the artistic world. William was an American post-impressionist painter influenced by the European atheistic crosscurrents of the late 19th century, and the son of a Pittsburgh steel magnate. Singer's mature work concentrated almost exclusively on the isolated mountains and fjords of Norway, a country that he adopted almost as a homeland. His major achievement was an interpretation of the majestic scenery of Norway. Anna was clearly the more outgoing of the pair. She spent much of her time entertaining guests at the couple's Dutch and Norwegian homes and developing the couple's collection of artwork. Apart from founding the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, the couple made numerous philanthropic gifts to churches, towns, and hospitals in Norway, the Netherlands, and the United States. After William's death in 1943, Anna turned much of her attention to finding suitable homes for the objects in their collection and supporting art institutions. In 1956, the founded the

Singer Laren Singer Laren is a museum and concert hall located in the center of Laren, the Netherlands. The museum is devoted to presenting and preserving the collection of the American artist William Henry Singer (1868–1943) and his wife Anna (1878–196 ...

Museum and theater in Laren, the Netherlands, and remained an enthusiastic supporter of the visual and performing arts until her own death in 1962. Diana of the Chase

Collection

The strength of the museum's collection has always been in 18th and early 20th Century art with paintings from such artists as

Benjamin West Benjamin West, (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as '' The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the '' Treaty of Paris'', and '' Benjamin Franklin Drawin ...

and

Thomas Sully Thomas Sully (June 19, 1783November 5, 1872) was a portrait painter in the United States. Born in Great Britain, he lived most of his life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He painted in the style of Thomas Lawrence. His subjects included nation ...

. The American landscape tradition is represented with works by

Thomas Cole Thomas Cole was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School art movement. Cole is widely regarded as the first significant American landscape painter. He was known for his romantic landscape and history painti ...

Thomas Moran Thomas Moran (February 12, 1837 – August 25, 1926) was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School in New York whose work often featured the Rocky Mountains. Moran and his family, wife Mary Nimmo Moran and daughter Ruth too ...

, Frederic Edwin Church,

Jasper Cropsey Jasper Francis Cropsey (February 18, 1823 – June 22, 1900) was an important American landscape artist of the Hudson River School. Early years Cropsey was born on his father Jacob Rezeau Cropsey's farm in Rossville on Staten Island, New ...

Albert Bierstadt Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was not ...

George Inness George Inness (May 1, 1825 – August 3, 1894) was a prominent American landscape painter. Now recognized as one of the most influential American artists of the nineteenth century, Inness was influenced by the Hudson River School at the s ...

John Frederick Kensett John Frederick Kensett (March 22, 1816 – December 14, 1872) was an American landscape painter and engraver born in Cheshire, Connecticut. He was a member of the second generation of the Hudson River School of artists. Kensett's signature works ...

and other members of the

Hudson River School The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. The paintings typically depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area ...

. Classic works by American impressionists

Childe Hassam Frederick Childe Hassam (; October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) was an American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressioni ...

and

Willard Leroy Metcalf Willard Leroy Metcalf (July 1, 1858March 9, 1925) was an American painter born in Lowell, Massachusetts. He studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and later attended Académie Julian, Paris. After early figure-painting and il ...

, came into the collection through William and Anna Singer's friendships with these artists.

The Ashcan School The Ashcan School, also called the Ash Can School, was an artistic movement in the United States during the late 19th-early 20th century that produced works portraying scenes of daily life in New York, often in the city's poorer neighborhoods. ...

has excellent examples of paintings by

George Luks George Benjamin Luks (August 13, 1867 – October 29, 1933) was an American artist, identified with the aggressively realistic Ashcan School of American painting. After travelling and studying in Europe, Luks worked as a newspaper illustrator a ...

Robert Henri Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher. As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...

, Arthur B. Davies, and

Eduard Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography. Steichen was credited with tr ...

. A small but significant group of European, Asian, and African art is complemented by art Decco glass by Tiffany and

Lalique Lalique is a French glassmaker, founded by renowned glassmaker and jeweller René Lalique in 1888. Lalique is best known for producing glass art, including perfume bottles, vases, and hood ornaments during the early twentieth century. Following t ...

. Contemporary and early American art and the pottery of the eccentric

George Ohr George Edgar Ohr (July 12, 1857 – April 7, 1918) was an American ceramic artist and the self-proclaimed "Mad Potter of Biloxi" in Mississippi. In recognition of his innovative experimentation with modern clay forms from 1880 to 1910, s ...

fill out the WCMFA's diverse collection. Along with American Decorative and Folk art, the museum has always been interested in Maryland art, and its collection includes portraits by the

Charles Willson Peale Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American Painting, painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolu ...

family of painters, including

Rembrandt Peale Rembrandt Peale (February 22, 1778 – October 3, 1860) was an American artist and museum keeper. A prolific portrait painter, he was especially acclaimed for his likenesses of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Peale's style w ...

and

Sarah Miriam Peale Sarah Miriam Peale (May 19, 1800 – February 4, 1885) was an American portrait painter, considered the first American woman to succeed as a professional artist. One of a family of artists of whom her uncle Charles Willson Peale was the most illu ...

. European Old Masters such as ''Saints Mary Magdalene and Paul'' by Giovanni Mazone and

Jusepe de Ribera Jusepe de Ribera (1591 – 1652) was a painter and printmaker, who along with Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, and the singular Diego Velázquez, are regarded as the major artists of Spanish Baroque painting. Referring ...

are hung in the museum's Schrieber Gallery. The Singers acquired an important group of thirteen works by French sculptor, Auguste Rodin, including his ''Saint John the Baptist'' in Amsterdam in 1931. At the same time, Anna Singer acquired a study of Abraham Lincoln for

Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakot ...

Gutzon Borglum John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Mountain in Geo ...

. Since Anna's death, the museum has continued to collect 20th-century and contemporary art, and owns significant works by

Milton Avery Milton Clark Avery (March 7, 1885 – January 3, 1965Haskell, B. (2003). "Avery, Milton". Grove Art Online.) was an American modern painter. Born in Altmar, New York, he moved to Connecticut in 1898 and later to New York City. He was the husband ...

Philip Guston Philip Guston (born Phillip Goldstein, June 27, 1913 – June 7, 1980), was a Canadian American painter, printmaker, muralist and draftsman. Early in his five decade career, muralist David Siquieros described him as one of "the most promising ...

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (born May 12, 1936) is an American painter, sculptor and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. Stella lives and works in New York City. Biography Frank Stella was born in Ma ...

Helen Frankenthaler Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s u ...

Grace Hartigan Grace Hartigan (March 28, 1922 – November 15, 2008) was an American Abstract Expressionist painter and a significant member of the vibrant New York School of the 1950s and 1960s. Her circle of friends, who frequently inspired one another in t ...

and Robert Indiana and Emily Clayton Bishop. The stained glass panel in the rotunda of the museum was added by local artisan Robert Martin in 1999.

References

External links

City Park HistoryWashington County Museum of Fine ArtsWashington County Museum of Fine Arts - a History
{{authority control Buildings and structures in Hagerstown, Maryland Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums Museums in Washington County, Maryland Art museums and galleries in Maryland Art museums established in 1929 1929 establishments in Maryland