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Mrs. Lewis Larned (Annie Swan) Coburn Bertha Honoré Palmer and Potter Palmer Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester
Glossary
On the left, an older adult with short hair and glasses sits in a wooden chair, wearing a light, paint-smeared smock and holding a palette and brush. In the middle background, a small desk with art tools stands in front of a dresser and bookshelves. On the right, an easel holds a small landscape painting showing a tall tree in the foreground with distant hills and clustered buildings. The scene is in black and white.

Charles H. Worcester

Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester

In 1947 Charles H. (1864–1956; fig. 1) and Mary F. S. (née Mary Foster Southwell; 1861–1954) Worcester donated seventy paintings, drawings, and sculptures from their collection to the Art Institute of Chicago.[1] Longtime patrons of the museum, the Worcesters had supported the Art Institute in significant ways for many years prior to this gift. They had loaned parts of their collection for exhibition and had generously supported the museum’s programming efforts, donating a fund to support the educational Gallery of Art Interpretation and contributing to the children’s fund. The Worcesters, who began donating important works of art to the Art Institute by 1925, collected broadly with the museum in mind; their 1947 donation—much of which stayed in their 1323 North State Street home until they died—included European and American works from the fourteenth to the twentieth century. According to former Art Institute curator and director Daniel Catton Rich: “In 1926, after a certain number of paintings had been acquired, Mr. and Mrs. Worcester indicated to Mr. Robert B. Harshe, Director of The Art Institute of Chicago, that they generously wished to contribute to the collections of the Institute. ‘What did the Museum need?’ ‘In what fields should it be strengthened?’ Together with Mr. Harshe they surveyed the Department of Paintings and … they set out at once to supply these lacks.”[2]1

Left side shows a large framed painting on an easel at about chest height, depicting two adults outdoors—one in a long dress and wide‑brimmed hat, the other in a suit—standing among dense plants with trees and small structures behind them. Right side shows an older adult with light skin in profile, wearing glasses and a patterned over-garment over a shirt and tie, holding a thin brush close to the painting. Background has tall windows with light curtains and cabinets below; everything appears in black, white, and gray tones.

Fig.1


Mr. Charles H. Worcester (1864–1956) at his easel. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.

In addition to their collecting efforts, the Worcesters volunteered extensive service to the Art Institute.[3] Having become a member in 1897, Mr. Worcester—a leader in the lumber and paper-product industries—went on to serve as a trustee (1925–49), vice president (1932–37), and honorary president (1938–56) (fig. 2). Originally from Detroit, Michigan, he was also an amateur painter (fig. 3). Mrs. Worcester—born in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, where her grandparents were founding settlers and she (as well as her parents) supported many local institutions, especially the town’s public library—was an honorary member of the Art Institute’s Woman’s Board. A supporter of many causes, Mrs. Worcester bequeathed approximately $5 million of her estate to numerous charities.[4] The Art Institute continues to benefit from the Worcesters’ philanthropy. Upon their deaths, they left the museum significant acquisition funds that have been used to purchase important Impressionist paintings such as Gustave Caillebotte’s Paris Street; Rainy Day, acquired by the Art Institute in 1964 (fig. 4).2

From top to bottom, an adult with short hair and a receding hairline faces forward in shades of gray, with a neutral expression. In the center, the person wears a light gray jacket over a darker vest and a white shirt with a tie, sitting with the body angled slightly to the right. At the lower left, the right hand rests near the lap; in the background from left to right are dark gray vertical and rectangular forms on the left and a lighter vertical panel on the right.

Fig. 2


Wayman Adams (American, 1883–1959). Portrait of Charles H. Worcester, c. 1920. Oil on canvas; 96.8 × 81.6 cm. The Art Institute of Chicago, Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection, 1947.51.

At left, an older adult sits in a wooden armchair facing right, wearing a light, paint‑marked smock and glasses, and holding a large rectangular palette and a brush. To the right, a small canvas on an easel shows a landscape with a tall tree near the right edge, a wide open light area across the middle, and distant low hills; the canvas appears smaller than the person’s torso. In the background, a desk with scattered tools and a small lamp sits before a dresser, and a tall bookcase filled with books lines the far right.

Fig. 3


Mr. Charles H. Worcester (1864–1956) at his easel. Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.

Foreground right, two adults with light skin walk side by side under large gray umbrellas; one wears a black top hat, bow tie, and gray suit, and the other wears a long dark dress and dark hat. At the far right edge, part of another umbrella holder is visible, while at the left foreground an adult in a dark coat walks away across wet, yellow‑brown cobblestones. Center features a tall green streetlamp, several smaller figures with umbrellas, and a red‑wheeled carriage to the left. Background shows beige multi‑story buildings converging at a distant corner beneath a pale gray sky, with people and a horse‑drawn carriage appearing smaller as they recede.

Fig. 4


Gustave Caillebotte (French, 1848–1894). Paris Street; Rainy Day, 1877. Oil on canvas; 212.2 × 276.2 cm. The Art Institute of Chicago, Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection, 1964.336. See cat. 2 in Caillebotte Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Monet Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago from the Collection of Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester

Boats on the Beach at Étretat (cat. 22)3

Renoir Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago from the Collection of Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester

The Laundress (cat. 6)4

La couseuse (Femme cousant dans un jardin) (The Seamstress [Woman Sewing in a Garden])[5]5

Notes

  1. Only the Monet and Renoir paintings that were given to the Art Institute by the Worcesters are noted here. We will identify works by other artists as we produce each monographic volume in the series.
  2. Daniel Catton Rich, Catalogue of the Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection of Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings (Lakeside, 1938), p. v. For more on Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester, see John W. Leonard, ed., “Charles Henry Worcester,” in The Book of Chicagoans: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men of the City of Chicago (A. N. Marquis and Company, 1905), p. 629; Albert Nelson Marquis, ed., “Charles Henry Worcester,” in The Book of Chicagoans: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men of the City of Chicago (A. N. Marquis and Company, 1911), p. 739; Daniel Catton Rich, “The Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Worcester Gift,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 24, 3 (Mar. 1930), pp. 30–31; Marguerite B. Williams, “A Collection from a By-Path of Art,” Chicago Daily News, June 11, 1930, p. 13; Edith Weigle, “Gift of Art,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 25, 1947, p. C6; “Donor to Get Honor Degree at Art Institute,” Chicago Daily Tribune, June 13, 1947, p. 21; Art Institute of Chicago, “Complete List of Works,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 41, 5 (Sept.–Oct. 1947), pp. 61–64; Katharine Kuh, “The Worcester Gift,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 41, 5 (Sept.–Oct. 1947), pp. 58–59; “Mrs. Charles Worcester Is Dead at 93,” Chicago Daily Tribune, June 21, 1954, p. C6; “Woman Wills Five Millions to Charities,” Chicago Daily Tribune, June 29, 1954, p. A1; Art Institute of Chicago, “People,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 49, 1 (Feb. 1, 1955), p. 14; “$5,590,000 Left to Charities in Woman’s Will,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Oct. 14, 1955, p. C12; “C. H. Worcester, Art Institute Patron, Is Dead,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Mar. 25, 1956, p. 29; “C. H. Worcester, Art Patron, Dies,” Chicago Sun Times, Mar. 25, 1956; “Art Patron C. H. Worcester Leaves Estate of 5 Millions,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Mar. 30, 1956, p. 3; “Worcester Will Leaves $100,000 to Secretary,” Chicago Sun Times, Mar. 30, 1956; “Trust Gets Bequest of C. H. Worcester,” Chicago Sun Times, Mar. 31, 1956; “Value Estate of Worcester at 8 Millions,” Chicago Daily Tribune, July 20, 1956, p. A11; Frederick A. Sweet, “The Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 50, 3 (Sept. 15, 1956), pp. 44–46; “$8,568,556 Left by Worcester, Mill Investor,” Chicago Daily Tribune, July 4, 1957, p. B2; “First Faces of Fort Atkinson,” Daily Jefferson County Union (Sept. 2011).
  3. The Worcesters also supported numerous other cultural and civic institutions. For example, they donated funds to build an art center at Lawrence College (now University) in Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1950. See “Lawrence College Opens Art Center, Chicagoans’ Gift,” Chicago Daily Tribune, June 11, 1950, p. E6.
  4. A portrait of Mary F. S. Worcester, painted by Wayman Adams, currently hangs in the Dwight Foster Public Library, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. Thanks to Kori Oberle and Karen K. O’Connor of the Hoard Historical Museum, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin; and Connie Meyer of the Dwight Foster Public Library, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, for their assistance in confirming biographical information about Mrs. Worcester.
  5. Guy-Patrice Dauberville and Michel Dauberville, Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, vol. 3, 1895–1902 (Bernheim-Jeune, 2010), cat. 2245. Formerly 1947.103 in the Art Institute’s collection; deaccessioned in 1985.
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