As a genealogist, Eileen Holz is used to maneuvering around historical dead ends. But her COVID-19 exploration of Nicollet County artist Adelaide Anne Magner had more cul de sacs than a suburban subdivision.
Part of it may have come from Magner’s short life — born May 28, 1872, on a farm near Nicollet, she died before age 60 — but certainly not from her lack of artistic production.
A student of the “ash can” school, Holz said most of the works in the exhibit taking place now at the Nicollet County Historical Society’s Treaty Site History Center in St. Peter were found locally, possessed by the Lambert clan of St. Peter, to which she can trace her lineage. The exhibit goes until Oct. 21.
“There isn’t a lot of actual Adelaide stuff left except for an abundance of her paintings that are owned by the family,” she said, seated at the computer screen where she did most of her research. “Adelaide was prolific, and she did a little bit of everything.”
Lest you’re not up on what the ashcan style entails, based on notes from a contemporary of Magner’s at art school, it essentially means “paint what you see.” The artistic movement in the United States during the late 19th-early 20th century produced works portraying scenes of daily life in New York, often in the city’s poorer neighborhoods.
Much of what can be found of Magner’s work is landscapes from around her hometown, where she returned during many summers and was known and loved by family, Holz said. It also includes more informal self-portraits, many with scribbled descriptions, in which she refers to herself as “the Egoist.”
Adelaide is recognizable in them because of the white blouse and orange jacket she wears. And her black top-knot hair style.
“She doesn’t very often appear in her more formal paintings, but these are more ‘ash canny’ kinds.”
Magner is one of the artists from Nicollet County that Holz was asked to research by the Nicollet County Historical Society, where she is an active volunteer. In total, she figures she spent about 2,500 hours researching about 20 visual artists, musicians, liturgical artists, writers and even those from theaters and opera houses.
“I’d say I probably contacted maybe 18 to 20 Lambert family members,” Holz said of her research. From those contacts she got a great sense of how much the Nicollet County family enjoyed her visits. Then she put on her genealogist’s hat to research trips to Europe that Magner took for artistic research.
Although she was told Magner’s headstone was based on sketches she did in Ireland, the ship’s manifests and itineraries she found didn’t reveal a trip to Ireland. In other cases, information she had been told didn’t match with what she found.
Perhaps most perplexing was the fate of some pieces she found articles about. One was of St. Peter native and former Gov. John A. Johnson.
“There’s a lot of press about Adelaide coming home and inviting ladies out to the farm, and that she is working on a portrait of John A. Johnson,” she said. “I’ve checked the state historical society, our historical society, and St. Teresa, where she would teach. You’d think a portrait of John A. Johnson would be around somewhere.”
Another is a four-panel mural she was to have created for St. Teresa. Holz has found articles saying the first couple of panels were done and the piece would probably be completed that summer. But other than a small picture, she has found nothing.
“And I’m hoping since the building is still standing, that it’s sandwiched between a wall somewhere instead of having been painted over,” she said with exasperation. “I think it would have been very colorful.”
The exhibit on Magner is just part of the current display, and includes a portrait of the artist’s father that usually hangs in the E. St. Julien Cox House. A rotating electronic display includes about 100 pieces too fragile to be framed.
When asked what she hopes people draw from the exhibit, Holz referred to what was said by Bob Lambert, who possesses some of his ancestor’s works: “He said that he hoped people see it to discover that St. Peter was more than just politicians and lawyers, and that there were actually very creative people here.”
Holz hopes she can tell more of those stories of those creative people moving forward.