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Frelinghuysen Morris
House & Studio
92 Hawthorne St.
Lenox, MA 01240

Celebrating Women's History month with Suzy Frelinghuysen

 Suzy Frelinghuysen led dual occupations, as a painter and as an opera singer.  She was the first woman to have a painting placed in the permanent collection of the  Museum of Living Art in l937.  In 1947 she attained instant success with her opera debut in Ariadne auf Naxos at City Center. She explained, "I feel that all of the arts are closely connected, so I don't understand why some people are surprised if you paint act and sing.  I do these things because I have fun doing them".  She later secured the legacy for the art collection she and her husband, artist George L.K. Morris assembled, now at the Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio in Lenox, Massachusetts.

 

You didn't miss "Beyond Monuments--Recognizing and Preserving the Ephemeral in America" last summer. Click below to watch!

Watch an entertaining and informative lecture by Richard Guy Wilson, Professor Emeritus of Architectural History at the University of Virginia as well as author of many books on architecture and design including Machine Age in America and Modern Architecture in America. He skillfully explores the question, "what do we preserve in our culture?".Click here to watch.

Take a Day Trip to a Modernist's Paradise--FMH&S Provides a Splendid View of two Groundbreaking Artistic Lives

"As you enter the living room, there’s a step down to an intimate wet bar. The room, with a 1905 concert Knabe piano in the corner, has a leather floor and features a wall of windows framing a heritage apple tree and star magnolia fronting a lush garden and grounds.George painted two frescos to either side of the fireplace, large enough in scale that they are referred to as “gentle giants", writes Don Stewart for the Greenfield Reporter.  Click here to read the whole article.

 

FMH&S lends painting to Metropolitan Museum of Art Exhibition

Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio is lending a painting to the Met's exhibit, Cubism and the Trompe L'oeil Tradition opening Ocober 20th through January 22, 2023. This exhibit offers a new view of Cubism by demonstrating its engagement with the age-old tradition of trompe l’oeil painting. Meaning “deceives the eye”, trompe l’oeil beguiles the viewer with perceptual games, blurring the “real” world in 3D with fiction, a two-dimensional picture plane. 

George L.K. Morris acquired this 1914 collage with watercolor and charcoal by Cubist Juan Gris in 1937 titled, Compotier Sur Une Nappe a Rayures (Fruit dish on a striped tablecloth) through his association with A.E. Gallatin, the artist and founder of the Museum of Living Art. Morris was Gallatin’s curator and together they bought such monumental paintings as Picasso’s Three Musicians and Leger’s The City, both of which were later donated to the Philadelphia Museum.

The 17 ¾”x14 ½” collage incorporates classic Cubist hallmarks of a still life composition and deconstruction of some elements. Using mimicry of material and coded references to current events with the use of new print media were also well used Cubist devices and they competed to invent even more ways to confound the viewer.

  

Half-Priced General Admission for Berkshire Flyer patrons

Berkshire Flyer patrons receive 1/2 price off general admission. Buy your tickets on our website or at the door and show your Flyer ticket to receive the discount! The Berkshire Flyer will provide rail service from NYC to Pittsfield weekends from May 26th-October 9th.Weekend trips run May 26-October 9th and typically sell out so book now!

 

Our feature in Berkshire Magazine's "The House that Modernists Built"

"The Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio is a modernist dream--displaying furniture by modern masters, original frescoes by the artists who lived there, and a collection of abstract and cubist art gathered by Morris to help with his own artistic development.  He amassed a sterling collection, including works by Fernand Leger, Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso and other seminal artists who were creating a new sensibility that was destined to define an era." Read the full article by writer Ellen Spear and photographer Jimmy ienner, Jr.Click here to read.

 

Abstract Therapy Episode Three

In our third episode of Abstract Therapy, “Embracing Abstraction,” we dive into a classically trained artist’s journey to abstraction. George L.K. Morris did a series of sketches titled Garden Composition and shows us a progression from inspiration to final painting. Stay tuned as we get ready for our summer season! Garden Composition #4, 1934, 36x30, oil on canvas. Click here for the experience.

Season 2022 dual career-opera and painter

Open 10-4 with self-guided audio and written tours.  Director's Corner with nephew/director Kinney Frelinghuysen each day @11:15.Join him as he does a quick highlight of the paintings on view. Contour drawing each day@2pm, a quick and interactive experience, sketch pads provided. Highlights include Suzy Frelinghuysen-Painter & Opera Singer-Influences of Cubism & Music in her Art. Her dual career is explored with music-infused collages and opera costumes on display as well as the paintings which most closely reference the Master Cubist collection of hers and her husband's.Historic Artists Homes & Studios photo exhibit titled Artists at Home*is on view in the Classroom as well as the Documentary. 

 

 

 

Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio Lends Painting to major Museum of Modern Art Exhibit

Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio is lending a painting from its collection to the Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit, “Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Living Abstraction”, on view November 21-March 12th. This major exhibit, following venues in London and Berlin, surveys this multidisciplinary artist’s career, when it was radical to be a multimedia artist. This Swiss born artist created paintings, reliefs, architectural and interior designs, polychrome marionettes, textiles, and beadwork. Sophie Taeuber-Arp was in the shadow of her more famous husband, Jean (Hans) Arp, as were many female artists.

George L.K. Morris was friends with the couple and collaborated with them and Caesar Domela on the art magazine, “Plastique” during its short run from 1937-1939. Morris bought this painting of gouache on paper, titled Composition in a Circle (10”x13”) from Sophie Taeuber-Arp in 1937. The same year, in his capacity as Chairman of the Advisory Committee at MoMA, Morris acquired a sculpture by Jean Arp for the museum, as well as a Mondrian and Miro. He collected works by these artists who were little known at the time, and for himself, at the same time.

 

New Abstract Therapy Episode

This 2-minute episode explores the power of materials in abstract art appreciation.  Enjoy Suzy Frelinghuysen's Abstract Still Life c.1963 created with oil and newsprint on canvas.  Click here for the experience.

Abstract Therapy Debuts

Join us for a new series where we engage with selected works from the collection and enhance your experience with them. Each 2-minute video in this series will also highlight a specific technique that the artist would use. This video features Suzy Frelinghuysen's Untitled mural c.1950 created with tempura on plaster and her use of color.  Click here to view this short video.

$9250 Grant to Preserve Films

Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio has been awarded a $9,210 grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation to preserve part of its collection of 16mm films taken by George L.K. Morris in the 1930s. The Foundation's grants support preservation of rare films such as silent films and films of sites receiving little media coverage. This current grant funds preservation of three films taken by Morris during a 1934 trip to the Far East during which he visited China, Japan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Hawaii, India, Korea, and Philippines capturing on film colonial, pre-World War II life and historical and culturally significant sites. These 1934 films make up almost half of those in the FMH&S collection. These three films, documenting Hong Kong, Shanghai, Suzhou, Mount Abu, and Udaipur are the final Far East films to be preserved. 

Virtual Reality Painting Experience

In this 3-minute video Director Kinney Frelinghuysen examines "Printemps", a painting/collage from 1945, with the aid of 3D digital deconstruction.  Suzy Frelinghuysen created this painting as a traditional still life, depicting common objects, but in the style of late Cubism. Deconstructing the painting helps to demonstrate the core ideas of Cubism and understand  her use of color and contour in the composition. Click here for the experience.

Virtual Tour Episode Two

While you are waiting for the Season to begin, warm up by watching Episode Two featuring guide Thomas in the foyer describing the art, architecture and design in the House.  Click here to watch the two minute video.

Virtual Tour Episode One Released

Enjoy the first installment of virtual tours this Season.  Episode One features Director Kinney Frelinghuysen in the courtyard of the House & Studio. Click here to view the four minute video.

Morris Fresco Relief from the Rockefeller Collection sold at auction

A small, 8"x8" fresco relief titled Opposition of Forms sold for $8750, above its estimate, at Sotheby's auction of Property from the Collection of Nelson and Happy Rockefeller.  The tempera on marble piece was signed 1945 and was purchased from the Downtown Gallery, run by Edith Halpert. Rockefeller's mother, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, was an early anchor of the Gallery which promoted American art, including Folk art in the l930's.  Nelson Rockefeller worked closely with Halpert on large contemporary art shows in the new Rockefeller Center in the Depression. This piece was most likely included in one of her shows of "small works", illustrating her acumen of inventing ways to attract clients.  

Stay fresh with these selections & more from our Channel

Enjoy Enrich Your Modern Art Experience with Director Kinney Frelinghuysen by clicking here. Watch lectures on art, architecture and social history like this one by Cornelia Brooke Gilder, historian and author of "Houses of the Berkshires" by clicking here.

Morris painting exhibited at Jewish Museum-"Edith Halpert and the Rise of American Art"

Wall Painting, was part of Halpert's personal collection, now reassembled for the first time since its sale in 1973.  Edith Halpert was the first woman in New York to open a commercial art gallery in l926 called the Downtown Gallery and became the most powerful dealer of contemporary art from the 30's to the mid-50's. This painting,1936-44, was most likely acquired during Morris' first solo exhibit at the Gallery in l944. This facinating exhibit continues through February 9th at the Jewish Museum, Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street, NYC.

Watch the lecture on this year's Studio exhibit on the Unseen AAA Paintings

Protests & Patronage: Morris, Frelinghuysen, and the Promotion of Abstract Art in the 1930's presented this July by Carol Troyen, Curator Emerita at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  Her entertaining insight into this year's exhibit is not to be missed.  Last day of hourly guided tours is October 13th.Click here to watch.

Australian Vogue features the Berkshires

"An abundance of art, food and nature make the Berkshires an idyllic (and interesting) country escape.." writes Natalie Shukur in last month's Australian Vogue magazine.  She curates a pictorially lush travelogue of accomodations, restaurants and art venues including the Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio.  Read the whole article right here!

$25,000 Grant approved by the Lenox Conservation Preservation Committee

This matching grant will help pay for the completion of the repair to the four rear patios and has been a catalyst to continue and expand engineering probes.  A probe last month uncovered steel beams in a critical area eliminating mysteries for the engineer's calculations.  Thank you to the Lenox residents for the approval at the Town Meeting,  committee members and Land Use Director/Town Planner Gwen Miller.

From Paris to the Berkshires--Modern Architecture Slide lecture

Click here to enjoy the slide lecture by University of Virginia Architecture Department Chair Richard Guy Wilson as he describes the origins of the Le Corbusier-inspired Morris Studio, built in 1931 in Lenox, Massachusetts.  The 38 minute video of the lecture this past season is full of information detailing the rise of Modern architecture in Europe and America. 

Suzy Frelinghuysen's "Composition" sells for $552,500 at Christie's sale of Ebsworth Estate setting record

Frelinghuysen's painting sold for over three times its high estimate and far surpassed her previous auction record of $85,000. "Composition" measures 40"x30" and was painted in 1943, incorporating corregated cardboard as a collage element.  Appearing wholly abstract at first, it actually refers to the image of a bullfighter.  Renowned collector and travel entrepreneur Barney A. Ebsworth bought the painting in the 1970's adding to his collection based on the rise of American Art in the 20th century.  He exhibited his collection widely across the United States.

 

Listen to Kinney Frelinghuysen's interview on WAMC Radio

Click here to listen to Director/Artist Kinney Frelinghuysen's interview with Joe Donohue last week talking about the story behind the creation of the House & Studio and this Season's exhibit.

FMH&S Celebrates 20th anniversary this Season

"When Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio opened its doors to the public in July 1998, the crowds of people lining up to view the home of abstract artists George L.K. Morris and Suzy Frelinghuysen was greater than imagined." writes Jennifer Huberdeau of the Berkshire Eagle. "The New York Times had done a piece just days before. People in line were clutching the article in their hands," said Linda Frelinghuysen of that first day nearly 20 years ago. "We were prepared to take 10 people at a time on the tour, we had 16yr olds selling tickets and taking cash in the parking lot." "We were wondering if anyone would come out, "director Kinney Frelinghuysen reminisced. Click here for the full article.

$19,185 Grant Award to preserve the House

FMH&S was awarded a $19,185 matching grant from the Lenox Community Preservation Fund to repair and restore a major structural issue of the 1941 stucco modern house. Water damage at the base of the dining room sliders resulted in a structural failure from the bedroom above the dining room. The dining room's steel doors and marble base will be restored and repaired.  Work on the project begins immediately.

You didn't miss the "Shades of Gris" lecture last July--Click below to watch!

View an informative and entertaining lecture by Emily Braun, curator of the Leonard Lauder Cubist Collection at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and Professor at Hunter College and the Graduate Center--Cuny.  She reveals the stories the historic labels on the backs of paintings tell us and examines the hidden imagery by Cubist Master Juan Gris. Click here to view.

"Precision Bombing", a 1944 oil painting by George L.K Morris, aquired by The Alfond Collection of Art at Rollins College

The Alfond Collection is part of the permanent collection of the Cornell Fine Arts Museum at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.  A significant part of The Alfond Collection is on view at The Alfond Inn, a philanthropic boutique hotel near the Rollins campus whose proceeds fund student scholarships.  Previously, the painting was in two other private collections and is now on view at the Cornell Museum at Rollins College in the exhibit, "Forging a Modern American Identity: New Aquisitions".Click on the link to the show here

"Spring Sun" sells at more than double its estimate at auction

Spring Sun, a large 1970 oil painting by George L.K. Morris, sold for $52,500 last week, which was more than double its pre-sale estimate, at Shannons Auction in Connecticut. The 42" x 51" work of art, sold by a private collector,  is composed of cheerful colors evoking springtime growth.  The title refers to Morris' interest in Native American themes. 

You didn't miss the films---Click below to watch!

View the videos from the final digitizing of the 16mm 1930's travel films by artist George L.K. Morris.  Never before seen footage of South and Central America, the Netherlands and France in color.  Click here to see the silent films.

Come and see the Knabe piano restored inside and out

The circa 1905 claro walnut Knabe has been completely refinished and restored and is back in the Living Room on the new leather floor. Click here to hear musician Dave Wright from Concord, Massachusetts test out the new action!

Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC displays Morris painting in newly installed gallery

Indian Composition, 1938, a large oil painting  by George L.K. Morris,  is now on view in the Metropolitan Museum's newly configured Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery.  It is hanging in Gallery 913 after its conservation.

Replacing the 76 year old leather living room floor-Berkshire Eagle Feature

"Finding the right person to install your new tile floor can be difficult.  Finding the right person to install your new leather floor?  Nearly impossible. It was just one of the many challenged faced by Kinney Frelinghuysen, director of the Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio, when the museum's trustees decided it was time to replace the leather living room floor" writes Jennifer Huberdeau.Read the full article here.--and her companion article here  describing the gifts made from  repurposed leather tiles.

Suzy Frelinghuysen painting to be included Google Arts & Culture project

In June, Google will be capturing the galleries of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas using its Street View technology and has selected Frelinghuysen's Glass and Bottle, 1948, as one of the artworks to be photographed using its ultra high resolution Art Camera.  The Google Arts & Culture project has partnered with over 1200  museums all over the world to expand global access to artwork.  Crystal Bridges Museum aquired the 30"x40" oil on board painting in 2015.

Preserving the Fresco

After years of solar radiation, moisture, and the freeze/thaw cycle, the outdoor fresco painted by George L.K. Morris in the 1940's needed to be conserved.  Cassie Myers, a conservator specializing in murals, is re-attaching the loose stucco  which adheres to the base wall and is "in painting" the losses on the mural surfaces.  She is retaining the integrity of the artwork in this painstaking process.

Removing the 76 year old leather floor

Staff member Rachel joined in to remove the leather floor in the Living Room.  We are brainstorming ideas for gift shop items recycled from the orginal floor with local leather artist Michael King. Stay tuned for updates and images of the replacement leather floor.

FMH&S featured in ANTIQUES-"Old guard-avant guarde"

"The place is startling even when you know it's coming.  Part of the surprise stems from the location:  the old and self assured village of Lenox, Massachusetts--the Berkshire Mountains summer seat of Gilded Age worthies who built estates..." CLICK HERE to read the full article.by writer Gregory Cerio and photographs by John Hall.

Architecture's Odd Couple ---Frank Lloyd Wright & Philip Johnson

Watch author Hugh Howard's sold out slide lecture from this summer. Click here for a front row seat!

Enjoy our art lecture series--Chick Austin House-Illusions of Grandeur

You didn't  miss curator, author and archivist  Eugene R. Gaddis' slide lecture on the Modernist dynamo Chick Austin.

Click here to view the pictures of his idiosyncratic house operated by the Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford, Connecticut  and hear the story of one of Modernism's unsung heros. 

FMHS featured in Departures Magazine

"The airy studio that the artist, writer, and collector George L.K. Morris built in 1931 on his family's 46-acre estate in Lenox, Massachusetts, looked nothing like the mansion he grew up in", writes Wendy Goodman for Departures Magazine.  Read the full article here.

Featured in T--The New York Times Style Magazine--Online

Vintage 1930's travel films, taken by the Berkshires' most creative couple. Click here to read the rest of the fabulous article and slideshow by Hilary Reid.

FMH&S featured in the Berkshire Eagle

Read Jennifer Huberdeau's article in her weekly series detailing the history of the Berkshire Cottages and how FMH&S came to be. Click here to read the interesting article.

 

Featured in Berkshire Magazine

Modern Times--Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio welcomes art lovers by Kate Abbott and images by Gregory Cherin. Click here to read the rest of the informative and enjoyable article!

 

 

 

Official Listing in the National Register of Historic Places

The National Register is the official list of American cultural resources worthy of preservation. All properties, from every state, are evaluated according to uniform standards from the Secretary of the Interior and are determined to contribute to an understanding of the historical and cultural foundations of our nation. Thank you to the professional and thorough surveyors and researchers who worked on our admission.  Especially Virginia Adams, who unearthed new historical information!

Suzy Frelinghuysen Collage sells above estimate

A 1943 oil and collage on Masonite titled "The Ring" was sold by a collector at Bonham's Auction House last week for $56,250, above its $30-50,000 estimate.

$10,020 Grant Award to Preserve Films

FMH&S has been awarded a $10,020  grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation to preserve part of the 16mm film collection taken by George L.K. Morris in the 1930's. The NFPF grants target rare films such as silent films and films of sites receiving little media coverage. This grant covers 3 films from a Far East 1934 trip by Morris visiting China,Japan,Cambodia, Indonesia and Hawaii capturing historical and culturally valuable sights of colonial, pre-WWII life. The grant will enable FMH&S to preserve films deteriorating from vinegar syndrome that were too fragile to digitize and view by creating film-film copies of these three films, the best practice in the industry.

FMH&S featured in Top Mid-Century Houses to Tour

View the article on InCollect.com, a website for collectors.  Click here!

FMH&S Featured in Art New England

Art New England's current Special Museums issue features FMH&S in its Destination Berkshires article.  The colorful magazine is chock full of fabulous art adventures in New England.  Click here to read!

Suzy Frelinghuysen Collage sells for double estimate

A small 1942 oil and collage on board titled "Composition 1942" sold at Bonhams Auction in New York City for $77,500 in November.  The work measures 16"x12".

Arp Painting lent to Swiss Museum

This 1937 painting by Sophie Taeuber-Arp was lent from the FMH&S collection to the major retrospective of her work at the Aargauer Kunsthaus in Switzerland and then to the Bielefeld Museum in Germany. She is regarded as a pioneer of Modernism and her image is on the 50 Swiss Franc note.