The Huntington Museum of Art sits atop the hills surrounding Huntington, W.Va. on the banks of the Ohio River. It has a fabulous collection, and Executive Director Margaret Mary Layne selected this month’s painting as a favorite.
“I have always loved this painting, mostly because it was my mother’s favorite painting,” says Layne. “That and its depiction of light and subject matter make this a strong painting with a meaningful message about work and family.”
It was a family connection from cousin and American composer George M. Cohan (1878-1942) that helped John Edward Costigan (American, 1888-1972) get his art career started in New York City. Costigan went on to design posters for the Ziegfeld Follies and the nascent film industry before his lush and powerful oils propelled him to fame in the 1920s.
Moving to a farm along the Hudson River, he often painted his wife and five children, along with a number of goats, in this bucolic setting. One such painting is Woman, Boy and Goats (circa 1936, oil on canvas, 36 ¼ by 40 1/8 inches).
“This painting is fascinating on many levels, but especially for the colors the artist reveals in the snow, trees, and water; the faces and clothes of the artist’s wife and child; and the hair on the family goats,” says Jenine Culligan, senior curator at the Huntington museum. “His thick impasto paint application makes the painting almost vibrate, and thus one can almost feel the cold, wet snow and the intense raking light shining through the tree branches on a crisp winter day.”
Costigan continued to paint right up to his death at age 83.
Featured at the Huntington Museum of Art through Feb. 9 is Vision of the Prophet: The Visual Art of Kahlil Gibran. Learn more at www.hmoa.org.
Nationally renowned local artist Michael McEwan teaches painting and drawing classes at his Clintonville area studio.
John Edward Costigan (American, 1888-1972), Woman, Boy and Goats, c. 1936. Oil on canvas, image: 36 1/4 x 40 1/8 in. (92.1 x 102 cm); framed: 44 7/8 x 43 3/4 x 3 3/8 in. (113.9 x 111.1 x 8.6 cm). Gift of Ruth Woods Dayton, 1967.1.55
