Archive: Around Town

Aurora, N.Y.—Wells College welcomes back the “Portrait of Henry Wells” by American painter James Edward Freeman. After being on loan at two museums, the portrait rendered in Rome more than 150 years ago returned to its home in Macmillan Hall on the Wells College campus Friday, May 18.

The 'Portrait of Henry Wells' was on display at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute Museum of Art (MWPAI) in Utica, N.Y. from September 12, 2009 to January 17, 2010. The painting was part of an exhibition titled, James E. Freeman 1808-1884: An American Painter in Italy. The exhibition featured “fancy pictures” and portraits of Freeman made up of 21 objects, including 16 paintings and four works on paper by the now-obscure painter.


John F. McGuigan and Mary K. McGuigan, independent art historians, were the guest curators for the exhibit at MWPAI, for they are largely responsible for discovering Henry Well’s cultured lifestyle in Italy when doing research on the well-known portrait and “fancy picture” painter from Central New York, James E. Freeman. The McGuigans’ revealed that Freeman painted the picture of Henry Wells in his studio in Rome, Italy during the winter of 1848. The McGuigans noted that Henry sat 24 times for Freeman. The painting was then sent to Henry Wells and hung in his home at Glen Park, which is now a dormitory on the Wells College campus.

After spending time in Utica, the portrait travelled to the Newington-Cropsey Foundation in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., where it was on display from September 19, 2011 to November 18, 2011. The College thanked MWPAI Registrar and Exhibition Manager Michael Somple, and Museum Technicians Erik Genalo and Dariiusz Sady for helping the “Portrait of Henry Wells” return to its home in Macmillan Hall, and Helen Bergamo for her archivist help and the McGuigans for sharing new revelations on Henry Wells with the College.

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