Guy C. Wiggins

Guy Carleton Wiggins NA (February 23, 1883 – April 25, 1962) was an American impressionist painter. He was the president of the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, and a member of the Old Lyme Art Colony. He did many paintings of New York City's snowy streets, landmarks and towering skyscrapers during winter.

Fifth Avenue Storm.
Guy C. Wiggins
Guy C. Wiggins, c. 1910
BornFebruary 23, 1883
Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
DiedApril 25, 1962
St. Augustine, Florida, U.S.
Resting placeOld Lyme, Connecticut, U.S.
OccupationPainter
Spouse(s)Dolores Gaxton
Children2 sons, 1 daughter

Early life

Wiggins was born on February 23, 1883 in Brooklyn.[1] His father Carleton Wiggins was an accomplished artist who gave his son his first training as a painter.[1] He attended the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, the Art Students League of New York, and the National Academy of Design.[1] His teachers at the academy were William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri.

Career

Wiggins often painted scenes of New York City, as evident in The Metropolitan Tower (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York); Washington Square in Winter (Richmond Art Museum, Indiana); Columbia Circle, Winter (National Gallery of Art, Washington); and Riverside Drive (1915).

June, Berkshire Hills – Brooklyn Museum

Wiggins painted in an impressionistic style,[2] as may be seen especially in Berkshire Hills, June (Brooklyn Museum). He traveled New England painting streams, fields and woodlands capturing on canvas the various seasons of the year. He became one of the youngest members of the Old Lyme Art Colony of Old Lyme, Connecticut, and painted alongside his father, Carleton, Childe Hassam, and Frank Vincent DuMond. Wiggins began teaching art in Essex, Connecticut in 1937.[3] He did a portrait of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and gave it to the White House in 1959.[4][5]

Wiggins served as the president of the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts.[1] He was a member of the National Academy of Design, the New Haven Paint and Clay Club, and the Lyme Art Association.[1] He won the Flagg Prize, the Cooper Prize and the Atheneum Prize from the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts; the Harris Medal from the Art Institute of Chicago; the Turnbull Prize and the Isidor Prize from the Salmagundi Club; and the J. Francis Murphy Memorial Prize from the Rhode Island School of Design.[1]

Personal life, death and legacy

Wiggins married Dolores Gaxton.[1] They had two sons, Carleton Wiggins and Guy Arthur Wiggins, and a daughter, Dorothy Gibson.[1] Wiggins resided in Old Lyme, Connecticut and wintered in St. Augustine, Florida.[6]

Wiggins died in 1962 while on vacation in St. Augustine, Florida, aged 80.[7] His body was returned home to Connecticut and he was buried in Lyme.[1] His work can be seen in several major museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago,[8] Brooklyn Museum,[9] and Smithsonian American Art Museum.[3]

Wiggins's son, Guy Arthur Wiggins, is also a painter.[10]

The painting "Lower Fifth Ave. During The Day" was the subject of a restoration by Julian Baumgartner on the YouTube Channel Baumgartner Restoration.[11] The work was previously believed to be untitled, but during the restoration the true title was found painted on the verso after a layer of canvas from a previous restoration was removed. [12]

References
  1. "Old Lyme Artist Dies At Age 79". Hartford Courant. April 27, 1962. p. 8. Retrieved November 17, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Lowrey, Carol (2007). A Legacy of Art: Paintings and Sculptures by Artist Life Members of the National Arts Club. New York: National Arts Club. p. 33. ISBN 9780615154992. OCLC 227004579.
  3. "Guy Wiggins". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  4. "Necrology". The Town Talk. April 26, 1962. p. 20. Retrieved November 18, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Deaths Around the Nation: Guy Wiggins". Detroit Free Press. May 11, 1962. p. 36. Retrieved November 18, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Guy Wiggins". The San Francisco Examiner. April 26, 1962. p. 31. Retrieved November 18, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Guy Wiggins". Daily News. New York City. April 26, 1962. p. 44. Retrieved November 17, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Guy Carleton Wiggins". Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  9. "Guy Wiggins". Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  10. Farmer, Ann (June 6, 2011). "A Family of Painters Is Having Its Moment". The New York Times. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M49_lVAHpw
  12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtxeFgmDc9A
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