Greenfield High School for Young Ladies

Dateprobably 1829-1840

Artist M. D. Belcher fl. ca. 1835

OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Greenfield (probably)

MediumWatercolor and ink on wove paper

DimensionsFramed: 10 1/8" x 13 3/4" Sheet: 8" x 11 3/4" (20.3 cm. x 29.9 cm.) Comp: 5 15/16" x 9 1/16" (15.1 cm. x 23.0 cm.)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1958.302.3

DescriptionA group of four distinct, whit, gray-roofed buildings occupies the righthand 2/3 of the picture plane; three colonnaded buildings are in the foreground, while the fourth building is only partially visible behind these. The building at far r. appears to be a church, as parts of a tall steeple are visible through the trees. The center front building has a front porch covering a split level mezzanine walkway. The far left building has a widow's walk around the top and a porch at the far side on the ground level. A white fence of palings extends from the side of the church diagonally down to touch the lower margin of the composition; then it juts slightly diagonally up and out of the picture plane at far left. Dirt drives meet the fence at two different points but there is no evidence of gates therein. The buildings are set in a grove of four trees with smaller ones on the oval lawn in front of the school complex, and thick trees appear beyond.
1 1/4-inch black and gold frame of Hogarth molding is a period replacement provided by the Old Print Shop, New York, NY in 1959.Label TextGreenfield High School for Young Ladies was in Greenfield, Franklin county, Massachusetts, in May 1828, and its first term commenced that winter. Although contemporary literature about the institution stressed its educational program, admiring descriptions of the buildings, grounds, and site indicate that these were a source of local pride. This may have been one of the reasons the school's proprietors used a Pendleton lithograph of the complex as a frontispiece to their 1829 OUTLINE OF THE PLAN OF EDUCATION PURSUED AT THE GREENFIELD HIGH SCHOOL FOR YOUNG LADIES. The otherwise unknown artist M.D. Belcher, who may have been a pupil at the school, closely followed the Pendleton lithograph in rendering his or her own version of the scene; aside from expected earmarks of naive translation, such as wavering architectural lines and askew perspective, very few changes were made, the most notable being Belcher's deletion of some ornamentation on the far left building.Inscription(s)In the margin below the composition, "GREENFIELD HIGH SCHOOL FOR YOUNG LADIES." is lettered in ink. In ink script to the right in the same margin appears": "M. D. Belcher."ProvenanceJ. Stuart Halladay and Herrell George Thomas, Sheffield, Mass. Halladay died in 1951, leaving his interest in their jointly-owned collection to his partner, Thomas. Thomas died in 1957, leaving his estate to his sister, Mrs. Albert N. Petterson, who was AARFAC's vendor. Ownership prior to Halladay-Thomas unknown.