Peonies
painter
Wilton Lockwood
(Wilton, Connecticut, 1862 - 1914, New York)
Dateabout 1913
Place MadeUnited States, North America
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions60 x 71 cm (23 5/8 x 27 15/16 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberP11n15
eMuseum ID722226
EmbARK ObjectID10918
TMS Source ID178
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryWhile violets were Isabella's favorite flowers, peonies must have been a close runner-up. She cultivated the pretty plants in her extensive gardens at her home in Brookline and won first prize from the Massachusetts Historical Society for her "vase of [peony] blooms on long stems, arranged for effect."
Her enthusiasm for peonies even informed the artists she patronized. Wilton Lockwood cultivated peonies on Cape Cod, and his paintings of the flowers became his most popular subject. Isabella purchased this painting in 1914 at a Boston art gallery, and it was later exhibited at the Worcester Art Museum, along with 27 other Lockwood paintings (12 entitled Peonies).
In Massachusetts, peonies typically bloom in June. Thanks to this purchase, Isabella enjoyed peonies year-round.
Her enthusiasm for peonies even informed the artists she patronized. Wilton Lockwood cultivated peonies on Cape Cod, and his paintings of the flowers became his most popular subject. Isabella purchased this painting in 1914 at a Boston art gallery, and it was later exhibited at the Worcester Art Museum, along with 27 other Lockwood paintings (12 entitled Peonies).
In Massachusetts, peonies typically bloom in June. Thanks to this purchase, Isabella enjoyed peonies year-round.
BibliographyNotes"The Lockwood Pictures: Exhibition to be Extended in Time - Collection Going to Worcester - Purchase by Mrs. Gardner." Boston Evening Transcript (Boston, 15 January 1915).
Exhibition of Paintings by Wilton Lockwood. Exh. cat. (Worcester: Worcester Art Museum, 1915), pp. 1-2. (one of the several paintings entitled "Peonies," nos. 17-22, 24-26)
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), p. 200.
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 71.
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), p. 137, ill.
Elizabeth Reluga, "Isabella's Peonies," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 9 June 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/isabellas-peonies
Exhibition of Paintings by Wilton Lockwood. Exh. cat. (Worcester: Worcester Art Museum, 1915), pp. 1-2. (one of the several paintings entitled "Peonies," nos. 17-22, 24-26)
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), p. 200.
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 71.
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), p. 137, ill.
Elizabeth Reluga, "Isabella's Peonies," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 9 June 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/isabellas-peonies
MarksNotesInscribed (lower left): WILTON LOCKWOOD
Inscribed (on a label affixed to the frame): Sold / Frost & Adams [an artists' supply firm in Boston, established 1869]
Inscribed (on a label affixed to the frame): Sold / Frost & Adams [an artists' supply firm in Boston, established 1869]
ProvenanceNotesPurchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the Wilton Lockwood exhibition at the Brooks Reed Gallery, Boston for $250 on 8 January 1914.
