Newsletter

My dear fellow Americans,

Please join me in wishing a Happy 247th Birthday to our beloved and truly exceptional Country!

This special 4th of July message features Jack Warner’s purchase of “The Declaration of Independence” by Edward Hicks, one of Jack’s (and America’s) favorite primitive, or “folk,” artists of the early 19th Century.

It is my hope that this painting will inspire readers to reflect on the history and importance of this event in creating the 1st and only Nation in the world “conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” It is the ideals and values expressed in this revolutionary document that have inspired us over the past 247 years to create a more just and equitable society, to put an end to slavery and other forms of systemic prejudice and racism…. to continue the work needed to create a “more perfect union.”

I am often saddened to think of how divided we have become as Americans when our divisions can be so easily resolved. Our perspective in looking at America has become as one of two viewpoints when looking at the same glass of water…is the glass “half full” or “half empty?” It is the same glass of water, but one viewpoint is optimistic, and the other is pessimistic. Will America continue to strive to live up to our high ideals, or is she condemned to failure? Let’s examine our history and choose to see the progress that America has made. Let’s retain the optimism and patriotism required to continue to progress to fill the glass with more freedom, more justice, and more equity. As our Founders did, reflected in this painting, let us continue with the courage to commit to America “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

Click here for an insight into the development of the Declaration of Independence prepared by history teacher Greg Balan.

Warmly,

Susan G. Warner

Chair, Warner Foundation

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Happy April to dear friends of the Warner Foundation!

This month we have chosen Catskill Mountain House by Thomas Cole for a belated celebration of Earth Day! Due in part to the work of Thomas Cole and his followers in the Hudson River School who depicted the remoteness and splendor of the American interior, we have today, a National Park System that encompasses 424 sites and 84 million acres of land. 

Catskill Mountain House was the 7th Thomas Cole painting in the Jack Warner collection and could be technically considered one of Cole’s best, as it was painted at the peak of his career in 1846. (Jack’s 1st Thomas Cole acquisition was “Katterskill Falls”, purchased in the late 1970s, just as the artist was being re-discovered!) I remember vividly when Jack discovered this Mountain House painting at Christie’s in December of 2003. He stood speechless gazing at it for what seemed like hours, transfigured by its brilliant colors and transcendental beauty. When he finally spoke to me, his exact words were: 

“That’s America, the Shining City on the Hill!”

Jack proceeded to explain to me that the 13 Corinthian columns represented the 13 colonies and that the Mountain House was a metaphor for a shining temple from which America had been spiritually guided in its westward expansion. Jack was a true believer in the concept of American Exceptionalism and to him Cole was a kindred spirit.

In suggesting this new title for his new painting, Jack was of course referring to a famous quote from the sermon “A Model of Christian Charity.” given by John Winthrop In 1630, in which he described the expectation that the Massachusetts Bay colony would shine like an example to the world. 

“For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.”

In celebrating Earth Day and the American landscape, I hope we will also celebrate the spirituality that has historically been a source of strength and guidance for American artists, pioneers, and leaders. We still are that shining city on the hill to which so many new immigrants clamor to enter! And the eyes of the world are still upon us, hoping that America will continue to be a beacon of hope, freedom, and opportunity shining throughout the world.

Be sure to see the article and video below of Jack Warner at auction to purchase this exquisite piece.

Our historian, Greg Balan, has again provided us with more historical context on the Catskill Mountain House and Cole’s message. Click on the button below to learn more

Warmly,

Susan G. Warner

Chair, Warner Foundation

To read the full e-newsletter, please click here.

Hello and Happy Spring!  Thank you for the wonderful feedback on our first newsletter last month.

In this second newsletter, we are presenting the painting “Colonial Wedding” by Edward Lamson Henry (1841-1919), one of America’s leading historical genre painters. This painting was acquired by Jack Warner from a New York gallery in 1980 and remained one of his favorites over the next 37 years.  He loved it because it depicts not only the promise of America as a new beginning but also the metaphor of America as a “melting pot” implying the successful intermarriage of diverse cultures and ethnicities. 

This great painting is as relevant to a divided America today as it was to America in the tumultuous and rapidly changing years following the Civil War.   The Colonial Revival, sparked by the Centennial celebrations of 1876 and lasting through the 1930s, brought a new awareness of America’s past and helped re-create a sense of unity and national identity.  Created during this period, Henry presents a nostalgic, yet historically accurate depiction of a fashionable Colonial wedding in which the newlywed couple, setting off by horseback, seem to represent America’s future.

This painting reminded Americans then, and is capable of reminding Americans today, of who we are!  It reminds us that America has always represented the promise of a new beginning, the blending of new and old cultures and the fulfillment of spiritual as well as material ideas and aspirations. 

To learn more about the history in this painting and related primary source documents researched by noted historian Gregory Balan, Click here.

To see a sample inquiry-based lesson plan using this painting to teach the history of the Colonial Period and the development of an American Sense of Identity, click here.

We look forward to hearing from you and hope you will share this newsletter with others interested in the understanding of American History through Art. Also, if you know someone who would enjoy receiving our newsletter, we’ve added a form on our site to join the newsletter. Click here to view.

Susan G. Warner

Chair, Warner Foundation

Click here to read our full March e-newsletter.

Welcome,

At the Warner Foundation, we’ve been spending time planning for the future of the Foundation, and the work is continuing. At the same time, we’ve been funding interesting work around the country that connects to our mission.

During our planning, we spent time considering what was truly important to Jack Warner and how his enthusiasm for American history, concern for education, and his incomparable zeal for collecting early American art could continue to build upon his impressive legacy.

The work that we have recently been undertaking includes

1. Sponsorship of Ashbrook Seminars to Encourage the teaching of American History thru American Art using inquiry methods and primary documents   (click here to see one in October 2022 at the New Britain Museum of American Art)
2. Enhancing and traveling the Foundation Exhibit “American History in Art”  currently at Figge and using it to promote professional development for local teachers of American History and Social Studies.
3. Encourage and support other museums to use their art collection to develop resources for local US History and Social Studies teachers in private and public schools.  A new RFP will be released soon that will invite specific museums and galleries to respond to these ideals.
4. In our monthly e-newsletter, we will feature a work of art from the historic Jack Warner Collection that can be used to teach history in the classroom.  A historian will be invited to provide additional historical content and context to encourage teachers to promote inquiry methods of teaching in the classroom.  Recommend related primary documents, literature, and music will be included in lesson plans. Click here to view this month’s selected piece “Washington and Gist Cross the Allegheny River.“

We look forward to providing you with new Historical Context to pieces from the collection each month.

Kind regards,

Susan Warner

Click here to view the full February e-newsletter.