The Chenango County Historical Society has received a collection of art by a local artist.
According to a news release, Christine Isabelle Oaklander visited CCHS to transfer ownership of a third portion of her holdings of fine art by Chenango County painter and printmaker Henry Grant Plumb (1847–1930). Two years ago, a collaboration was established in which Oaklander agreed to donate most of her collection of art by Plumb, which she has owned since 2014.
Plans are underway for an exhibit and accompanying publication to be facilitated by CCHS over the next three years, with Oaklander to serve as guest curator and author, the release stated. While most of the art on display will be part of the CCHS collection, loans and partnerships with other cultural institutions and private collections are anticipated.
“It is exciting that this art is ‘coming home’ to Chenango County,” Oaklander said. “This collaboration will allow for Henry Grant Plumb to be given his rightful place in the chronicles of Chenango County history and American art overall.”
Plumb, a lifelong Sherburne resident, is thought to have studied under prominent painter and author Tompkins H. Matteson, a long-time art teacher in Sherburne. Close contact between the two families would have been likely, as Matteson worked with Plumb’s father Isaac regarding town affairs, including the water supply and the fire company, the release stated. Most of Plumb’s artwork depicts the rural life of Sherburne, including landscapes, farming scenes, livestock and depictions of young children, for which his family served as models. Mice, for some as-yet undiscovered reason, were a favorite subject.
According to the release, Plumb moved to New York City in the early 1860s to study art at Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design. He worked at the Hatch & Company lithography firm briefly, then moved to Boston to work for another printmaking establishment. In 1874 he traveled to Paris, where he studied art in the Academie des Beaux Arts, writing home dozens of illustrated letters recording his classes and adventures in France and Italy.
Upon returning to New York City in 1878, he began professional work as a painter, joining the Salmagundi Club and exhibiting frequently at juried shows. Plumb was hired to teach drawing at Cooper Union, where he was employed for many years. In the 1890s, he married and had two children, Henry Jr. and Margaret. Plumb worked in New York City during the active art season, spending summers in Sherburne, the release stated. He lived in his childhood home, establishing a studio on the second floor of a shed behind the house; both buildings still stand. He is buried in the Plumb family lot in Sherburne’s West Hill Cemetery.
Plumb’s archival and art collection was inherited by his daughter, who left it to her friend Nicholas Pavlik. Pavlik consigned portions of the collection at auction to fund a theater scholarship. Oaklander purchased a large portion of the auctioned collection from an art dealer. She has already donated pieces to the Sherburne Public Library and the Save the Sherburne Inn Restoration Project, according to the release.
“This collaboration — to develop experiences which fully celebrate Henry Grant Plumb’s legacy—is perhaps the most ambitious exhibition our museum has ever undertaken,” said Jessica Moquin, executive director of CCHS. “We are supremely grateful to Christine for entrusting CCHS with this priceless collection.”