*

*
Polar bear with carrot

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

John Hemming Fry


I bought this fairly large mural painted by Indiana artist John Hemming Fry (1860-1946) when I was in Miami.  I am really taken with it. It has a protean mythical quality with great under lighting  and was probably painted  at a time that  predates the WPA.  It came from a collection of 14 similar murals and was arguable one of the two best works.

Don't know a lot about the artist but Davenports shows a painting the exact size selling for 25k many moons ago so maybe it has some value in the marketplace. I know that it gives me a good feeling.  I see that he was a fiend of Royer and Genthe and assembled a major art collection that morphed into a book/catalogue.  Any information regarding this artist would be welcomed.

10 comments:

grumpy said...

not familiar with him but will fall by Friday for closer inspection, welcome back kotter...

Anonymous said...

Yo Rob, welcome back! That painting reminds me of your 'dwarfs building a rainbow' painting!

Blue Heron said...

sorry, don't remember that one...

Blue Heron said...

oh yes I do. water to wine?

Anonymous said...

Nice piece!!1 What happened to other works from this collection of 14?

Blue Heron said...

They are gone with the wind...

LaserCuttingShapes said...

Ok, I bought two works from this collection and also curious about the rest of the works (14 works?) I learned that these murals were painted by J.H.Fry for one of the theaters in Cincinnatti and ended up in various places after the theater was reconstructed. I am planning to create a site on my art collection including these two works by fry. i would appreciate any information on location of His works

find me at www.lasercuttingshapes.com, my name is vadim

JohnC said...

I bought this nice, mysterious drawing (link: http://www.aspireauctions.com/auction55/details/10586.html) by John Hemming Fry, via eBay about 4 years ago (Seller had originally acquired it at auction from the collection of Tom Wilson -- Ziggy cartoonist). It is a study for one of his symbolist/mythological paintings "The Elemental Drift". Latter appears in Fry's book "Paintings, Drawings & Bronzes". I would say he was much stronger in his draughtmanship and drawing than his painting. His painted figures sometimes appear too stiff, and lacking in depth. His writings suggest he was a staunch classicist who abhorred the rise of modernism.

Unknown said...

There is another artist, a contemporary of John Hemming Fry, with a smilier name, John H. Fry. " Hemming" born in 1861, while "H". born in 1850, both in Indiana. "H" painted ships and his work ended up on post cards sold by J. Salmon Company of London. I'm trying to separate the two but their biographies seem to get mingled together. By the census records of 1910 and 1920 I'm sure that artist Georgia Timken Fry was married to "H" but even in her obit it mentions "Hemming." Is there someone out there who can help me untangle the lives of these two contemporary artists?

Unknown said...

Now I am convinced that Georgia Timken is NOT the wife of "H" but is the wife of "Hemming." Her adopted daughter Fredericka inherited Georgia's portion of the Timken estate in Connecticut worth about $5 million.

After making that switch in my thinking, now I don't know anything about the ship painter John H. Fry, b. 1850.

Can anyone help me? Did he marry? Children? When did he die? Where is he buried? I'm not getting any help on ancestry.com or Find a Grave.

Who are the parents of John Hemming Fry? Where is he buried?