Chilmark Moor, Martha’s Vineyard by William Lathrop

William Langson Lathrop was born March 29, 1859, Warren, Illinois. Lathrop was often called the Dean of the New Hope art colony.  Lathrop helped to established this community of artists soon after he moved into Phillips’ Mill in 1899. His home and studio quickly emerged as the intellectual and spiritual center of the art colony, as he ferried students to his studio and, with his wife Annie, hosted weekly teas for his colleagues. A dedicated teacher, Lathrop mentored several members of the New Hope school’s first and second generations.

Lathrop first visited Bucks County in 1898 upon the encouragement of a longtime friend, Dr. George M. Marshall, who sold him the miller’s house of Phillips’ Mill in 1899. Lathrop’s home at Phillips’ Mill became the site of lessons and weekly teas where lively discussions of aesthetics and politics occurred. Lathrop was an influential friend, colleague, and mentor to many important members of the Bucks County artistic community, including Daniel Garber, Robert Spencer, Morgan Colt, Rae Sloan Bredin and Charles Rosen. Lathrop was also the first president of the Phillips’ Mill Community Association, 1929. His son, Julian L. Lathrop, was a founder of and taught at the Solebury School. William Lathrop and Henry B. Snell were also close friends. Henry Snell, his English born wife, painter Florence Snell, and the Lathrop families had Sunday dinner together at Phillips’ Mill for many years. Snell helped Lathrop build his boat, The Widge, and is fondly remembered by the family as Uncle Harry. Lathrop was also friends with noted painters John Folinsbee and Harry Leith-Ross.

Primarily a tonalist, Lathrop created poetic and evocative paintings in muted shades, often of earth browns and blue-grays. Most often he painted simplified rustic landscapes in oils or occasionally in watercolors. Although Lathrop often worked en plein air in the manner of many Pennsylvania impressionists, he deemed it important to complete his paintings in the studio, drawing also upon memory.

In his later years, Lathrop developed a more impressionistic style, expanding the colors in his palette. An avid sailor, Lathrop tragically died when his boat, The Widge, sank in a hurricane off Long Island in 1938.

“[Lathrop] painted from inner feeling, not through direct approach as I paint, and the effect is charming.”-Edward Redfield

 

Language Arts

• Use the Act it Out! Activity Sheet on your next visit to the Michener.
• Use the Poetic Approach to Nature Activity Sheet on your next visit to the Michener.
• Use the Focus on Chimark Moor, Martha’s Vineyard Activity Sheet on your next visit to the Michener.
• Use all five senses to imagine what it would be like to visit the place in this painting. Write a short descriptive narrative describing this place.
• Since Lathrop was referred to as a “poet”, what do you think he’s saying with his work? If you could create a short poem for this work, what would it say?
• Lathrop wrote many letters and kept a logbook or journal. Do you own a diary? Why is it important to have a diary? Pretend you are Lathrop painting on your boat. Write a journal entry explaining the recent experiences of your travels.
• Why is it important to write letters? How do you communicate with others today? How many types of communication are there? In the perspective of William Lathrop, write a letter to a friend or family member explaining your experiences of painting on your boat. If you would to write this message today, how many ways could you write it and distribute it?

Visual Arts

• Use the Create a Motive Like William Lathrop Activity Sheet during your visit to the Michener.
• Like many other Pennsylvania Impressionist artists, Lathrop painted “en plein air” which means “in the open air”. Go outside and paint a landscape painting of your own.
• Looking further: If we could walk around in this painting and look closer at the details, what else might we see? Make a sketch of this painting as if the image continued past the frame.
• Lathrop liked to travel on his sailboat and paint the sea. Using photographs for reference, create a seascape of your own. Perhaps this is a place you have visited already. What would you include?

Art History

• Compare and contrast Chilmark Moor, Martha’s Vineyard with another Pennsylvania Impressionist painting in the collection. Visit the Bucks County Artists’ Database to find other Pennsylvania Impressionist artists and examples of their work.

Science

• What is a moor? Learn about different types of land classifications.
• Where is Martha’s Vineyard located? What are its geographical characteristics? How does it compare to the Bucks County region?

Math

• Calculate the distance and time Lathrop would have needed to travel in a sailboat from his home at Phillips’ Mill to Martha’s Vineyard.