John Gellatly, by Irving R. Wiles, 1930-1932
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John Gellatly

Irving R. Wiles (born Utica, NY 1861-died Peconic, NY 1948)

1930-1932

Medium
oil on canvas
Classification
Paintings
Dimensions
79 x 38 3/8 in. (200.8 x 97.6 cm)
Museum
Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Painting and Sculpture
Credit line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist
Rights
CC0 (Smithsonian Open Access), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the Smithsonian Institution

About this work

Art collecting is a hobby for some, but for John Gellatly it was a passion. His buying began in collaboration with his first wife, Edith Rogers (1858--1913), whose family manufactured railroad locomotives. The couple supported many contemporary American artists, including Abbott Handerson Thayer, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, John Henry Twachtman, and Albert Pinkham Ryder--all painters influenced by French impressionism. The Gellatlys also collected decorative arts, especially glass. After Edith's death, John's collecting pace increased, perhaps exceeding his means. By the time he donated his art collection to what later became the Smithsonian American Art Museum, few funds remained in the estate to settle his debts.