‘Shapleigh from the Inside Out’ is the new art exhibition opening October 18, 2013, at the Jackson, New Hampshire Historical Society. The opening is paired with the 11th annual White Mountain Art Sale from October 18th – 20th, 2013. The art sale features 19th century paintings by artists of the White Mountain School of Art as well as contemporary White Mountain landscapes. Some of the 19th century artists represented include Benjamin Champney, Benjamin Newman, John Ogilvie, Aaron Shattuck, and Frank Shapleigh. Scenes include Mt. Washington from the Intervale, Echo Lake in Franconia, Diana’s Baths, and other White Mountain landmarks. An on-line catalog of both the 19th century paintings and contemporary paintings is available. The Shapleigh exhibit is open in the Historical Society’s building from October 18, 2013, until January 31, 2014. Even October’s Pumpkin People display at the Historical Society is artistic, with the White Mountain Pumpkin Artist painting a rustic building en plein air.
Frank Henry Shapleigh (1842-1906) studied painting at the Lowell Institute of Drawing in Boston and at the studio of Emile Lambinet in France. He is famous for his New Hampshire landscapes and genre scenes, as well as paintings in Florida, California, and Europe. He was artist-in-residence at Crawford House in the White Mountains from 1877-1893, and later built a summer home and studio, ‘Maple Knoll’, in Jackson, NH, in 1896. He died there a decade later. Shapleigh painted many well-known mountain vistas, including Mount Washington, as well as more intimate landscapes and genre scenes depicting rural New Hampshire scenes viewed through an open door or window. The exhibit juxtaposes many of these paintings to allow comparisons, and its catalogue includes essays by historians Charlie Vogel and Bob Cottrell.
