Peabody Institute Library
Peabody, MA
Art Tour
Prepared by Nancy Barthelemy, Archivist
The Peabody Institute Library was created with the 1852 donation
from native son, George Peabody (1795-1869). Since that time, art has
been an integral part of its history. When Eliza Sutton (1806-1889)
donated the funds for the Eben Dale Sutton Reference Room to be added
in 1869, she paved the way for yet more art to be enjoyed by the citizens
of Peabody and beyond.
In 2011, the first floor of the Library was renovated. The historic
colors chosen for the heart of the Library were based on the palette from
the Eben Dale Sutton Room, which now houses the Library’s Archives.
The art on display today is as eclectic as the Library’s history. Much
of it reflects George Peabody’s influence. Other donations came from
Peabody residents and Library trustees. All reflect the belief that art is—
and shall remain—an essential facet of our lives.
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Within our Library are the works of:
John James Audubon
Abel Nichols
Charles Osgood
John Jabez Edwin Mayall
Aed Arnoult
Emile Gruppe
Frederick Arnaud Tilt
John Edward Jones
Thomas Ball
Edwin Forbes
Frederic Remington
George Catlin
Ceiling Stencil found in
Assistant Director’s Office
To left and right:
Images re-created in front foyer
Upon entering the Library through the front door, the first work
of art on view are the stencils located in the foyer in the upper left and
right-hand corners of the doorway leading into the first floor lobby.
During the first floor renovation in 2011, ceiling stencils used over a
century before were found in what is the present day Assistant Director’s
Office. While it was impossible to save this ceiling—and therefore the
stencils—part of the design was re-created in the foyer.
Peabody Institute Library, 1854
Immediately to the left of these stencils is a magnified copy of an
engraving depicting the Library not long after it opened in 1854.
Gloucester Morning located in
Assistant Director’s Office
Distress located over Microfilm Cases
After the Storm located to the right
of Reference Desk
Hauling the Nets located to the left
of Reference Desk
Continuing into the first floor lobby are four paintings by Emile
Gruppe (1896-1978). Gruppe was born in Rochester, New York. His
father was an artist and the family traveled to the Netherlands when Emile
was quite young. Just before WWI, the Gruppe family returned to the U.S.
and by the 1930s, Emile had settled in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where
he founded the Gloucester School of Painting.
In the early 1980s, Peabody lawyer George Ankeles donated Distress
and Hauling the Nets to the Library and After the Storm and Gloucester
Morning to the Peabody District Court. In 2006, Judge Santo Ruma placed
the Gruppe paintings on an indefinite loan to the Library, allowing these
paintings to be viewed together for the first time in over 25 years.
Located just behind the Reference Desk is the painting, South
Danvers in 1828. Until recently, this work was attributed to Gideon Foster
Jr. (1782-1865). However, there is indication that the artist was Nathan
Lakeman Sr.. (1804-1835) who was a member of the Danvers Light Infantry which is depicted in this painting. Lakeman was known for his landscapes and portraits.
The painting’s history is an interesting one. Until the 1880s, it was
used as a fire screen in the house of General William Sutton. It was then
presented to the town by the general’s son, Eben Sutton of Andover and
later given to the Library by City Hall.
The landscape shows the Danvers Light Infantry encamped on the
common by the Old South Church, which is the most prominent
landmark in the painting. In 1828, the church had been in existence over a
century, having been formed in 1711. In 1836, this building was torn
down to make way for a new church which was built on the same site.
However, the members of the South Church voted to erect a new
structure in 1843 and agreed to sell the building to the Methodist Society.
The building was moved to its present location on Washington Street.
The small building to the left of the South Church is Schoolhouse
#13 where George Peabody attended school. To the right of the Church
is the old Dustin Hotel or the Sun Tavern, marked by the tall sign depicting the sun on it. Also on the right is the home of Lewis Allen, positioned
in the area which became known as Allen’s Block. Straight ahead is the
present day Central Street.
At the rear of the First Floor Lobby, we come to one of the
Library’s most prized works of art, the Portrait of Queen Victoria. When
George Peabody donated over $2 million to create housing for the poor
of London, Queen Victoria wished to find a way to thank Peabody.
Because he was an American citizen, she couldn’t offer him knighthood.
Instead, she commissioned court artist, Frederick Arnaud Tilt, to paint
this miniature portrait on enamel. It arrived at the Library on Sept. 22,
1866, along with the Queen’s autographed letter, thanking Peabody for his
generosity to the poor of London.
Below Victoria’s portrait are several of the awards Peabody received
for the creation of the Southern Education Fund and for his gift to the
poor of London.
Congressional Medal given to Peabody
Gold Box from the City of London
In the Library Director’s Office is a painting by former Library
custodian, Tom Nolan of the Library in 1995.
Also in the Director’s Office are three of the George Peabody
Awards from the City of London which were presented to him in
gratitude for his gift to create housing for the poor of London. All were
hand-calligraphied and some were also illuminated before being framed.
These awards have been part of the Library’s collections since the 1860s.
Award to George Peabody from
Working Classes Exhibition, 1866
Award to George Peabody from
Merchant Taylor’s Company
Award to George Peabody
from the Parish of Chelsea
In the Trustee’s Room is our next work of art, Portrait of Gideon Foster by
Charles Osgood (1809-1890). Charles Osgood was born in Salem and became a well known portrait artist. His most famous work is a
portrait of Nathaniel Hawthorne, which is now owned by the Peabody
Essex Museum.
This portrait of Gideon Foster (1749-1847) was commissioned by
the Danvers Mechanic Institute in the 1840s. The Danvers Mechanic
Institute was a model for the Peabody Institute Library, in that it was both
a Library and Lyceum. One of its founders was Fitch Poole, who became
the first Librarian of the Peabody Institute.
The painting shows Foster near the end of his life. In the
background to Foster’s left is the Bunker Hill monument. Gideon Foster
fought at the Battle of Lexington, as well as at Bunker Hill. After the
Revolution, he returned to South Danvers to continue his work at the
family’s chocolate mill which was located on what is now Foster Street.
Continuing onto the first floor elevator lobby, in the space to the left
of the elevator is the George Peabody Portrait. The painting was restored
in 2011 with funds from the Community Preservation Act and the
Peabody Institute Library Foundation.
This portrait was donated by George Peabody during his October
1866 visit to South Danvers, given to replace one he donated to the
Library in 1854 upon its opening. It was said he didn’t like that portrait,
which had been painted by George Peter Alexander Healy (1813-1894).
A well known photographer of the time, John Jabez Edwin Mayall (18131901), took a life-sized photograph of Peabody and Aed Arnoult
(fl.1860s), one of Queen Victoria’s court artists, overpainted the image to
resemble an oil painting. Later copies were painted and now hang in the
Peabody Institute of Danvers, MA and Baltimore, MD.
To the far left of the elevator lobby is a bust of Peabody sculpted
by Irish born sculptor John Edward Jones (1806-1862). He was the son of
painter Edward Jones and had been an engineer and builder of bridges
before turning to sculpting. He was most successful with portrait busts
and had exhibits at the Royal Academy, which included a bust he sculpted
of Queen Victoria. Jones had attended on one of George Peabody’s London dinners in 1856, the same year he sculpted this for Peabody.
Proceed up the elevator to the second floor and the Sutton Room.
In the Sutton Room foyer is a bust of Eben Sutton (1803-1864),
sculpted by Thomas Ball (1819-1911). Ball was born in Charlestown and
studied in Italy before returning to the U.S. Among his works are statues
of Charles Sumner, Daniel Webster and George Washington. Eben Sutton
owned a woolen mill in Andover and lived in South Danvers, serving as
president of the Danvers Savings Bank and as Library Trustee until his
death in 1864.
To the right of the entrance to the Sutton Room is a portrait of Fitch
Poole (1803-1873), the first Librarian of the Peabody Institute. He was
one of the founders of the South Danvers Lyceum, begun in 1828 and
the Danvers Mechanic Institute in 1841. The Mechanic Institute was a
model for the Peabody Institute, in that it held both a Library and
Lyceum.
The portrait of Poole was painted by a local artist, Abel Nichols
(1815-1850), who was born in Danvers and studied in Italy. The majority
of Nichols’ portraits were of local people, such as Milton P. Braman, Levi
Preston and Sally Orne. His most famous portrait was that of William
Henry Harrison
Continue into The Eben Dale Sutton Room to your left.
The Sutton Room was built in 1869. During George Peabody's
historic visit to South Danvers on October 15, 1866, Eliza Sutton
presented $20,000 to the Peabody Institute Library's trustees to create the
Eben Dale Sutton Reference Library. Her donation built more than a memorial for her deceased son, Eben Dale. It allowed for the expansion of
the Peabody Institute and for the creation of a reference library which
went on to house books of "enduring value." Today it houses the Library’s
archives.
The room itself is a work of art. The tower addition to the Library
was designed by Boston architect Gridley James Fox Bryant (1816-1899).
He designed a number of Boston buildings, including the original Boston
City Hall and Massachusetts State House. The addition extended the
library by 46 feet and also added on the front portico which is still in
existence. The three story tower had a separate entrance and was built of
brick and brownstone to meld with the original library. The top floor gave
a panoramic view of the town. In 1953, the third floor of the tower was
removed.
The wood used was black walnut and the furniture in the room was
also donated by Eliza Sutton. It was she who gave us the Audubon prints
as well as the Milton Shield.
In 2003, the ceiling was restored to its original appearance with a
grant from the ENHA.
To the right as you enter the room are three portraits of the Suttons.
To the left is Eben Sutton (1803-1864), the center Eben Dale
Sutton (1848-1862) and to the right, Eliza Sutton (1806-1889).
Eben Sutton was born in South Danvers and owned woolen mills in
North Andover. He was the director of the Eastern Railroad, as well as a
Trustee here at the Library until his death in 1864. .
The portrait of Eben Dale Sutton was painted by Alonzo Hartwell
(1805-1873) of Boston. Hartwell was trained as a wood engraver in
Boston and earned awards for his work. After 1851, he turned to painting
and became known as a portrait artist.
Eben Dale Sutton spent most of his life sickly and in a wheelchair.
That did not stop him from organizing a group of boys into a local
regiment at the beginning of the Civil War. He led marches through town
in support of the Union Army. He died at the age of 14 in 1862.
After the deaths of her son and husband, Eliza Sutton devoted her
life to creating the Eben Dale Sutton Reference Library and for a Home
for Aged Women. She became well known for her philanthropy and
divided her time between Peabody and Center Harbor, New Hampshire
where she died in 1889.
The portraits of Eben and Eliza Sutton were donated to the Library
by the Sutton’s niece, Serena Pevear of Peabody in 1910.
Purple Heron
Canada Warbler
Today, the name John James Audubon (1785-1851) is automatically linked with the study of birds. Even so, few realize just what an important contribution he made in his Birds of America, published by subscription from 1827 to 1838. Audubon was preceded by Alexander Wilson, a Scotsman who published volumes by subscription in which he
mostly described through words the American birds he'd studied. Audubon wanted people to be able to view the birds as they appeared in their
natural habitat. To do this, he worked first with engraver William Home
Lizars and later with Robert Havell to publish his works on the largest paper found at the time. These double elephant folios allowed most of the
species he drew to be printed life- sized, something not done before.
The Peabody Institute Library is only one of 134 repositories which
own John James Audubon's historic work, The Birds of America. Donated
by Eliza Sutton in 1871, these volumes have been an important part of
the library's collection for over 130 years. At present, the prints have been
removed from their volumes for the purpose of restoration. So far, over
160 of the 432 prints we own have been restored and are available for
public viewing in the Sutton Room.
The Milton Shield
The Milton Shield was donated by Eliza Sutton to the Eben Dale
Sutton Room in 1877.
It was designed and wrought by Leonard Morel-Ladeuil (1820-1888)
to demonstrate a newly developed process of repousse—or a technique in
which metal is shaped by hammering from the reverse side.
Morel-Ladeuil was trained in Paris in the art of bronze work. By
1860, he had become well known and was hired by the city of Birmingham, England to create a wedding gift for the Prince and Princess of
Wales. Not long after, he created the Milton Shield for the Paris Exhibition in 1867 and it created such a sensation that it was bought by the
British government for 3000 pounds. Thousands of copies were made, of
which this is one.
Etched onto the Shield are scenes from Milton’s Paradise Lost..
Also within the Sutton Room’s collection are a number of portfolios, including prints by Edwin Forbes, Frederic Remington and George
Catlin.
Reveille on the Line of Battle
by Edwin Forbes
Tattoo in the Camp
by Edwin Forbes
Edwin Forbes (1839-1895) was born in New York and trained as a
animal and landscape painter. When the Civil War began, he went to work
for Frank Leslie’s Magazine and traveled with the Potomac Army as an
artist. Because photography was still too slow a medium to be used, magazines and newspapers employed artists to capture the essence of the
battles and army life for the people back home. Edwin Forbes’s works
were published throughout the war and are now preserved at the Library
of Congress, as well as here at the Peabody Institute.
Borderline of the Other Tribe
The Charge
Frederic Remington (1861-1909) was a painter, illustrator, sculptor and
writer who attempted to capture the spirit of the American west. He was
born in Canton, New York and was related to artist George Catlin. While
his father hoped he would enter military life, Remington preferred drawing military scenes rather than living them. When his father died, Remington lived off a small inheritance, which allowed him to leave art school to
travel. Though he was largely self-taught, he eventually improved and
worked for Harper’s Weekly, Century Magazine, the New York Journal and The
New York Herald.
Catching the Wild Horse
The Mandan Chief
George Catlin (1796-1872) was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania,
He first studied law, practicing it for a few years before he turned to art.
His primary interest was Native American life. He began his work in 1830,
traveling to the Midwest on a diplomatic mission down the Mississippi
River. He visited numerous tribes and eventually assembled his paintings
for viewing in 1839. Some of these works were included in his 1843 publication of Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio.
Peabody Institute Through The Years