1. “Zinnias with Grass.” Still life, oil paint on canvas, by Charles Massey West, Jr. (CMW), 1961. (All paintings are pigment in linseed oil unless otherwise noted.)
2. “The Wharf.” Centreville wharf with reflecting river water in foreground by CMW, 1942. Charles West painted the Centreville Wharf area over many decades of change, from Ford’s Floating Theater in the 1920s to the fertilizer factory buildings, ruined storage barns and old oil tanks of the 1950s, to the remaining workboats and restored homes of the 1960s.
3. “On the Beach.” Family vacation at Ocean City, with striped orange and white umbrella, by CMW, c. 1960. Note CMW’s use of a family as figures in the scene, a family that often corresponded to his own family with wife and two sons in striped t-shirts.
4. “The Southeast Field.” Impressions of a harvest scene by CMW. Note the use of paint applied by palette knife rather than brushes. Both Charles and Anne West, who met at art school in Philadelphia in the 1930s, had high regard for the French Impressionists of the 1890s who tried to create a vivid “impression” of a scene with bold displays of color, always deliberately avoiding the detailed rendering of a photographic copy. Work similar to theirs is sometimes called “Post Impressionist” or, more recently, the “Pennsylvania Academy School.”
5. “Rolph’s Wharf in Summer.” CMW.
6. “Centreville Landing,” Bathers in classic wharf scene. CMW, 1941.
7. “Court House Discussions After the Rain.” Anne Warner West (AWW), 1940. The painting is signed “Anne Dickie,” the signature often used before her marriage. Her full maiden name was Anne Dickie Warner.
8. “Larrimore Corner: Summer.” Wharf lane with figure and chickens. AWW, 1949.
9. “Work Boat at the Wharf.” AWW, c. 1975.
10. “Red Barn in Snow.” AWW, c. 1960. Note old oil tanks at lower right are suggested but not developed.
11. “Waterman.” CMW, c. 1935. The man who modeled for this portrait was Wright Walls, a classmate of CMW in Centreville schools. This painting was exhibited at Green College, Oxford University, Oxford, England, in November 2000 as part of a conference, “Genius in the Genes?” -- dealing with families having visual talents and dyslexia with accomplishment in the arts and the sciences (sponsored by the UK Arts Dyslexia Trust). Eight families were invited to participate in the conference and exhibition, including one British family with four winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics.
12. “Queen Anne on the Courthouse Green.” AWW, c. 1977. Unfinished sketch displayed on AWW’s folding paint box and easel often used in the field. In this case, the painting was clearly done through the right front window (facing out) of the gallery. Note the doorway that can be lined up in the “V” between the large branch and the trunk of the old maple tree. Also, the right side large branch crosses near the head of the new bronze statue. In this way, we can see exactly where the artist was standing some 30 years ago. (Charles and Anne West sometimes rented the upstairs space of the gallery building before AWW purchased and renovated the building in the 1970s. Remarkably, it happens that the father of CMW, Jr., also rented space in this same building from time to time in the 1920s and 1930s. But CMW, Sr., used the space to manage his own farms and the farms of other local landowners after his retirement as Centreville general store shopkeeper.)
See item 12.
13. “Rescue.” Welded steel sculpture with falling figure and raised hands on found machine part by Jonathan Gifford West (JGW), completed at Kenyon College, 2000. JGW is the son of Thomas and Margaret West and grandson of CMW and AWW. He recently completed studies at the Southern California School of Architecture in Los Angeles.
14. “Bathers in the Sun.” CMW, 1962. Note recently rediscovered preliminary sketch placed below the painting.
See item 14.
15. “William Paca Place.” Two drawings of the Paca houses at Wye Plantation. Pen and ink on paper by CMW, c. 1942. Wye Plantation was the home of William Paca, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and is now the headquarters of the Aspen Institute. Several old buildings were taken down to build the new main house in the 1970s. When Wye Plantation was sold to Arthur Houghton in the 1930s, it belonged to the Lewis family and was managed (with many other farms) by the father of CMW, Charles M. West, Sr.
16. “Portrait of Minnie Avery West.” Portrait of the artist’s mother by CMW, c. 1934. Note the focus on the face in this large canvas, with deliberately undeveloped elements at the edges of the composition. The likeness is such that one of CMW’s sisters said she could not look at the painting, so moved was she with emotion for their deceased mother.
17. “Washington Building -- Entry Hall -- Chester Springs.” This 18th century room with casement clock and Quaker bench was painted by CMW, c. 1932, while he was an art student. The scene depicts the entrance hall of one of the buildings of the “Country School” of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), attended by both CMW and AWW. The Country School was based in the small town of Chester Springs (later, Yellow Springs), west of Philadelphia, which had been a spa in the early 18th century. The PAFA was the first school of fine arts to be established in America and was founded by Charles Wilson Peale, famous artist and naturalist of the Colonial and Revolutionary War periods. (Peale was born on a farm near Centreville just south of the 4H Park. See historical marker).
18. “Fist as Screw-on Appendage.” Laminated pine wood sculpture by Jonathan Gifford West (JGW) completed while at Kenyon College, 2000. JGW is son of Thomas and Margaret West and grandson of CMW and AWW. He has recently completed his studies at the Southern California School of Architecture in Los Angeles
19. “Wharf House in Afternoon Sun.” CMW, c. 1933. Previously loaned to CMW’s Centreville childhood friend Martha Rolph and returned to him after her death. Probably a student piece from PAFA days. On the reverse side of this canvas is a portrait of a young woman in a pink dress, perhaps a PAFA student model.
20. “Regatta.” CMW, 1949. This is a view of Edgartown Yacht Club on Martha’s Vineyard Island as seen from the Chappaquiddick Island side of the narrow harbor entrance.
21. “Dancers.” AWW, 1937.
22. “Old Wharf Barn with Fisherman and Dog.” AWW, 1981. View with the “Short Bridge” in background. Early in the 20th century, the road West from Centreville at the Wharf crossed the “Short Bridge” and the road north past the old fertilizer plant crossed the “Long Bridge.” In time, parts of both bridges were replaced by earth fill roadways so that both bridges eventually became “short.” However, the old timers continued to use the old names of the bridges.
23. “Child -- Portrait of Tommy.” CMW, c. 1946. Second son of the artist (Thomas Gifford West).
24. “Still Life with Basket and Gloves.” CMW, 1940.
25. “Portrait of Chip.” CMW, c. 1947. First born son of the artist (Charles Massey West, III).
26. “Wharf Buildings in Snow.” AWW, c. 1955. Note signature of AWW is carefully hidden -- painted on the bow of the small yellow boat in the lower right of the painting.
27. “Wharf House with Figures and Sail Boats.” CMW, 1950.
28. “Seascape.” CMW, 1967. Painted at Ocean City, Maryland, this sketch has often been noted for the illusion of movement in the waves and receding surf along the beach.
29. “Harbor Scene.” CMW, 1941. This painting received many honors. It appeared in the Magazine of Art in 1941. Other honors include: Corcoran Annual, March 1941. Honorable Mention, Contemporary Art Exhibit, Art Institute of Chicago, 1942. Probably painted while teaching art at the John Herron Art School in Indianapolis, Indiana, where CMW and AWW lived after their marriage in 1940 and where their sons were born in 1941 and 1943. The family returned to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1946, first to a rented home in Oxford, near Easton, then back to Centreville, the childhood hometown of CMW.
30. “Farm Garden.” CMW, 1941.
31. “Portrait of Charles M. West, Jr.” Painted by Sarah Blakeslee (SB), c. 1932. This portrait was painted by SB when she was a student at the PAFA with CMW and AWW. Apparently, CMW was sitting as model in the portrait class to earn extra money for art school tuition or as part of his full scholarship. (As it happens, AWW painted a portrait of CMW at this very same sitting.) Subsequently, SB married Francis Speight who was teacher to all three. Long time friends, SB gave the portrait to CMW during a visit in the early 1960s. Francis Speight and SB are both listed in the Pennsylvania Impressionism book from the Michener Museum (pp. 285 and 299). (See number 36.)
32. “Poppies.” AWW, 1987. Along with “Waterman” (number 11 above), this painting was exhibited at Green College, Oxford University, Oxford, England, in November 2000 as part of a conference, “Genius in the Genes?” -- dealing with visual talents and dyslexia in the arts and the sciences, sponsored by the UK Arts Dyslexia Trust. Eight families were invited to participate in the conference and exhibition, including one British family with four Nobel Prize winners.
33. “Summer Kitchen at Narrows.” CMW, c. 1940. Note see-through wall and preliminary sketch displayed in front by stairway.
See item 33.
34. “Bathers and Old Pine Tree.” AWW, 1937. Signed “Anne Dickie.” Painted near Little Pier at West Chop on Martha’s Vineyard Island.
35. “Portrait Sketch.” CMW, c. 1955. Preliminary sketch for portrait -- believed to have been of Peggy or Sally Wilson.
Enlarged photograph of AWW on horseback in Wyoming, c. 1927.
36. The book Pennsylvania Impressionism (edited by Brian H. Peterson, et al) was published in 2000 by the James A. Michener Art Museum, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with the University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia. Michener, the famous author of Chesapeake, among many best selling novels, was fascinated by this school of painting and provided funds for establishing the museum. The book deals primarily with artists from the late 19th century but also cites the work of teachers and students who were trained at the PAFA with CMW and AWW in the early 1930s.
See item 36.
See item 37.
37. Entry for Charles M. West, Jr., of Centreville. Maryland, in Dictionary of American Painters and Sculptors. Note entry on facing page for Benjamin West, famous American artist of the Revolutionary War period who came from the Philadelphia area. He was popular in England and a great favorite of King George III. Several of Benjamin West’s most famous paintings are currently on display at the PAFA. In spite of the shared artistic heritage and geographical proximity, there is no known link between the two West families.
“Head of Chip.” CMW, c. 1958. This head of Charles (“Chip”) M. West III, the son of CMW, Jr., was done in about 1958 at the time that CMW, Jr., was working as assistant to Lee Lawrie of Long Woods, near Easton, Maryland. It was Lee Lawrie who suggested the irregular shape of the base beneath the head and hand. The original clay was cast into plaster and colored to look like bronze. Later, the head was taken to New York City by Thomas G. West in 1966 where he had it cast into bronze using the French sand process (rather than lost wax).
The Privilege to Paint -- The Lives of Francis Speight and Sarah Blakeslee by Maurice C. York, Greenville Museum of Art, Greenville, North Carolina, 2002. Francis Speight was teacher to CMW and AWW (and their classmate Sarah Blakeslee) at the PAFA in the early 1930s. Sarah Blakeslee painted the portrait of CMW shown here (see number 31 above).
See Privilege to Paint, above.
Daniel Garber -- Romantic Realist by Lance Humphries, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the James A. Michener Art Museum, 2007. This book accompanies the concurrent exhibition “Daniel Garber -- Romantic Realist” at the PAFA, January 26-April 8, 2007, and the JAMAM, January 27-May 6, 2007. Daniel Garber (1880-1958) was teacher to Francis Speight at the PAFA and a portrait of Speight by Garber is featured in the JAMAM exhibition (item 136, page 46, “Portrait of Francis Speight,” 1937, charcoal on ivory laid paper, gift of Francis Speight). Accordingly, Garber can be seen as teacher to the teacher of CMW and AWW.
See Daniel Garber, above.
Composition books (without lines) with student sketches and other exercises by AWW while at the PAFA. Note date stamps (“December 11, 1934,” for example) showing registration and approval by art instructors of the PAFA for life drawings done by AWW.
Sketch of CMW by AWW in her composition book while at PAFA in early 1930s.
View of exhibition in West Gallery, April 2007
