Expanding a Collection

The recent gift of 12 paintings from the collection of Doris and Shouky Shaheen are on exhibit now at Norton Museum of Art

Through May 1

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In 2020 the Norton Museum of Art received a gift of a dozen paintings from collectors Doris and Shouky Shaheen that ranged in style from impressionism to realism. “Shouky Shaheen approached us and asked what would be helpful for the collection,” says Ellen Roberts, the museum’s curator of American art. “I picked these 12 paintings because they’re great examples by artists we have or artists we didn’t have in the collection until now. They fill a lot of gaps as well as just being beautiful examples of the artists’ works.”Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), The Lobster Trap, 1937. Watercolor on paper, 20¾ x 29 in. Gift of Doris and Shouky Shaheen, 2020.65.

Included is art by Childe Hassam, Anderew Wyeth, William Glackens, Jane Peterson, Edward Henry Potthast, John Henry Twachtman, Guy Wiggins and Jamie Wyeth. Currently the Florida-based museum has the art on view in the exhibition From Hassam to Wyeth: Gifts from Dorris and Shouky Shaheen, which opened on December 10 and will hang through May 1.

Four watercolors by Andrew Wyeth, including The Lobster Trap, are the stars of the acquisition. “They’re from the first group [of watercolors] he made in the 1930s, after he first saw Winslow Homer watercolors,” shares Roberts. “It’s not the Wyeth we know, with his later muted palette. They’re much more colorful.” The pieces join another by Andrew already in the museum collection from the same period, this one being an illustration. Roberts adds, “Works on paper can’t be on view long term, so it’s great to have depth. We can show them one at a time and prove to people what an important watercolorist Wyeth is without overexposing one example.”Childe Hassam (1859-1935), Wainscott Links, 1907. Oil on canvas, 23½ x 29 in. Gift of Doris and Shouky Shaheen, 2020.58.

Prior to the acquisition, the museum didn’t have a work by Glackens in its holdings but had pieces by all the other members of The Eight. The painting from this acquisition completes the grouping. A new artist to the collection is Potthast, while Wiggins’ 1914 painting Flatiron Building, New York is the second by the artist at the museum. The Hassam, titled Wainscott Links, becomes the sixth in the collection and expands on work by the artist by showing more breadth and depth to his oeuvre.Guy Wiggins (1883-1962), Flatiron Building, New York, 1914. Oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in. Gift of Doris and Shouky Shaheen, 2020.62.

“The gift is exciting, and what’s nice is it worked together as a unified group because [the collectors’] taste is unified around the turn of the 20th century,” says Roberts. “They are different artists, but there’s a unification that makes a connection between all of the works.” —