Emmett Pine Adirondack Artist

Don and Mona LeClair were married on October 2, 1965 at her family’s church, the Immaculate Conception located at the top of Front Street hill. The newlyweds moved into a small apartment on Pleasant Street, next door to Pine’s Grocery. Don found himself spending many nights visiting the store and talking to Emmett, developing a friendship that lasted for years.  Mona would often send Don to pick up a few groceries and hours would pass before he crossed back over the driveway that separated the apartment building from the store.

Don loved talking to Emmett.  Emmett knew what was going on around the village and had definite opinions that he happily shared.  The store was comfortable and welcoming, especially if Emmett answered the bells that rang into action when struck by the opening door. Don remembers Emmett standing behind the counter in front of shelves laden with 20 to 30 small paintings. It was a casual, revolving exhibit as paintings would disappear when purchased only to be replaced by new ones. 

A month or so after their wedding, Don was in the store and saw a couple of small paintings of the Immaculate Conception Church. They were paintings of the church in a winter setting.  Don pointed at them and said “Emmett,  that isn’t what the church looked like on my wedding day, Mona and I were married on a beautiful sunny day.” 

 He told Pine that Turner’s Drug Store had post cards of the Church that reminded him exactly of the day they were married.  Emmett told Don to bring him one of the post cards and he would paint it.  Don, wanted a painting larger than the typical boards and canvases he saw placed around the store so he also bought a frame the size he was looking for and gave both to Pine.

Postcard of the Church of the Immaculate Conception,  “The Irish Church”, Keeseville, NY ca1965 Curtesy of Don and Mona LeClair

Pine was busy at the time, he told Don he had a few commission ahead of his but only two or three weeks later, the painting was completed and framed.  Emmett knew Don had very strong feelings about the special scene and he put a lot of work into the painting, recreating the church on that sunny day only a few short months after the wedding had taken place.

Immaculate Conception Church by Emmett Pine, 1965, Curtesy of Don and Mona LeClair.  Approximately 17″ x 24″

Don and Mona’s painting of the Irish Church has hung in their home for 55 years, with the original post card tucked into the corner of the frame.  Their painting of the church on a sunny day, with the south side a bright and brilliant white, the tall spruces and the statue of the Church’s namesake on the front lawn, the stain glass windows styled in blue.  

Using the post card for details, Pine didn’t just copy it.  His view was southwest of the church well across the road allowing him to include a more complete perspective of the church and surrounding land.  He even included glimpses of the cemetery behind the church, through the tall trees that have always graced the South and East sides of the property.  Like the post card, the sky is full of clouds but instead of the bright blue we see a pale sky with some light greying in the East possibly a portent of a storm coming in off Lake Champlain or a gentle nod to the newlyweds that married life isn’t always blue sky and sunshine.

The Immaculate Conception, locally called the Irish Church was built by Irish Immigrants in 1835.  It was the first Catholic Church in Keeseville and remains the oldest active original-structure church in the diocese.  The church was a favorite theme for Pine and one that sold well.  

Emmitt’s family, were long time parishioners of the Irish Church and in fact he is buried in the Immaculate Conception cemetery, as are his parents, his wife, his sister and many other relatives.   Pine’s most popular painting of the Church was an evening scene depicting Midnight Mass.  In fact, in 1980 when he completed a commission of that painting  for a long time friend and collector, Pine told him it was his 25th rendering of that scene at that time.

Don and Mona’s painting is the 9th painting of the Irish church that I have cataloged, and while Emmett had fun varying the colors and using different lighting they are all winter scenes.  This is the only painting cataloged to date showing the church in a warm weather season which makes it pretty special.

Selection of Privately Owned Paintings of the Immaculate Conception in the Emmett Pine Catalogue

Don LeClair is retired now but he still lives on Pleasant Street, a ways down from Emmett’s old store in the home he and Mona brought up their family.    They can be found most days relaxing on their porch, visiting with family and friends.

Two private sales recently brought to a close a year without any discoveries of new paintings or paintings coming into the market.  

The first transaction brought a new painting back into the North Country from a collector in Virginia and a painting left Plattsburgh to join a downstate collection.

Leaving after Sunday Service, Collection of S. Ransom

This great painting, approximately 12″ x 14″ date of painting unknown, shows parishioners leaving Mass or service on a sunny summer day.  Everyone is dressed in their finest “Sunday go to meeting” clothes, walking or riding home in their carriages.

The features of the people are indistinct and somewhat blurred but the impression Pine went for is very clear; a contented and relaxed group of neighbors on a peaceful day.  The warm green with some brown used for the grass and close shadows evoke a typical late morning towards the end of summer one would be used to seeing in the Champlain Valley.

This painting was owned by a lady in Virginia who contacted Stan and offered it for sale.  We were able to cataloged four paintings owned by a couple in the Norfolk, Virginia area a few years ago as part of an exhibit at the Anderson Falls Historical Museum in Keeseville, this painting was not part of the collection of images that couple sent.  Thanks to Stan it has now been added to the catalog of Pine paintings which totals 111 paintings in 33 collections.

Pumpking Harvest, Collection of TJMM

I was thrilled to receive Art Graves recent e-mail that he was considering selling this great painting depicting a farmer and his son harvesting pumpkins on a cool but sunny autumn afternoon while his daughter plays with the family dog.  

A large painting, 22″x 28″ acrylic on art board which is inexpensive and in a large size like this, a quite flimsy light canvas covered piece of cardboard.

Pumpkin Harvest was painted in 1982, three years before Pine’s death.  At 37 years it is in remarkable shape.  Luckily the painting was purchased from Emmett by his good friend of many years Stan Ransom who kept the painting for 33 of those years and even used it on the cover of his 2005 recording, North Country Memories.

Visit Stan’s website at www.stanransom.com to see his entire collection of cd’s.

Blanch E. Pine 1908 - 1986 Painting c 1940 Courtesy TJMM

While Emmett Pine may have been the head of the household, the real boss at home was his wife Blanch.  Blanch was the daughter of Helen and Nelson DeFoe of Peru and had at least three siblings; a brother named Garfield a highly regarded doctor practicing in Maine, and at least two other sisters Helen who was younger and Lilian, age unknown.  That is all I could dig up about Blanch.  I spoke with some of their nieces and nephews who remembered her as quiet but definitely the “boss”.  

Local papers from the 1930′s through the 70′s regularly reported on the DeFoe family’s travels and family members visiting Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Pine.  When Lilian was married to Joseph A. Shoendorf the weekly news reported that Lilian was attended by her sister Mrs. E. J. Pine.  The wedding announcement and funeral information for Hellen and Garfield also reported in the local newspapers.  What’s missing is any additional information about Blanch, no wedding announcements and only a death announcement from Alexandria, VA, with no obituary.  After Emmett’s passing, Blanch moved to the Alexandria, Va area where her son Juan lived and where she passed away in February 1986.

At least we have this wonderful painting of Blanch which Emmett titled “Femme Fatale” dating back to 1940.  The painting is oil on flannel and is extremely fragile; the painted surface heavy with oil paint but missing the heft of canvass for support is quite delicate.

The title is perfect for this painting with Blanch in evening clothes wrapped in a mink stole.  Pine painted her in this pose with her dark eyes drawing you in and lips painted with a slight upward curve.  She’s hiding a secret...you want to know what it is but will you survive the encounter?

Back of Painting

Emmett often wrote notes on the back of his paintings; clues to the subject, date or the person or cause that the painting was intended for.  The note above was likely added by Stan Ransom who purchased this painting from Pine’s Store.  Stan was director of the North Country Library System and traveled through the region visiting libraries regularly.  When in Keeseville he always stopped to see his friends Blanch and Emmett Pine.  

This is the second painting I have come across painted on flannel fabric stretched over a wooden frame.  The other painting of a moonlit marsh was also painted in the 1940′s.   Canvas was in high demand for military production, tents, leggings water carriers, cots etc.  Perhaps artists throughout the country had to come up with other material for their work.

Even more interesting is the remains of a painted canvas that had been cut out leaving the margins still attached to the stretchers.

The remaining margin is painted in the blues Pine typically used in his winter scenes.

Winter Road Through Forrest, Courtesy TJMM

Another visit to the North Country and another surprise from my brother!  A new Emmitt Pine.  He has officially become the E.Pine Bloodhound.

This painting certainly evokes Robert Frost’s poem although it appears to be the day after the “snowy evening” he wrote about. Here we are on a narrow road through a forrest of evergreens with their branches laden with snow. The sun is low in the sky casting long shadows across the road with the warm glow of late afternoon lighting a small break in the forest just ahead. 

 This is a wonderful work by Pine. You can feel the dry cold of a typical Adirondack woodland winter scene.  His use of color in this painting particularly in the shadowing and the snow covered branches add depth and texture to this painting that is rarely seen in his other works.

Winter Road Through Forrest, Courtesy Jay Hamilton

Jay Hamilton’s painting is very similar to the one above in fact almost a duplicate.  This painting is darker and lacks the bright sunlight above yet still has shadows stretching across the road.  The same forest and lonely trail but for a change here and there.  Missing are all the colors Pine used above to build out the shadows and shading.  

Private Road, Town of Chesterfield  Photo by TJMM

In the 1940′s Helga Peterson, a neighbor of Emmitt Pine, acquired this small painting from him.  She had either seen him throw it away or found it after he had thrown it away.  When she asked why, Pine said he had tossed it because he was unhappy with the foreground.  He gave the painting to her and it has been in her family ever since.

The painting is 8″ by 10″ and offers a birds eye view of the hill rising from River Street to the Immaculate Conception on Front Street in Keeseville.  This interesting perspective shows some of the houses along River Street with the  primary focus on the Irish Church above.

Pine was probably dissatisfied with the two small houses in the foreground which are undersized compared to the white house on the left.  All the houses that line the north side of Front Street are missing from the work; we don’t know if he just didn’t get to them or if he never planned on including them.  Prospect mountain in the background is almost picture perfect.

Emmett Pine’s paintings are often passed within a family from generation to generation, rarely making their way into the open market.  This is the case with this painting.  The work was passed from Helga to her daughter and after many years was passed to Helga’s grand daughter and her husband, Bruce and Nina Sullivan.  

Winter Whitetail, Curtesy TJMM

Deer Hunting in the North Country is an important slice of local life.  In the lead up to deer season hunters plan, they scout, and they talk and talk and talk and when it begins some have been known to stop working until it’s over.  Although Emmett Pine was never a hunter he must have been caught up in the excitement and talk since two paintings featuring a whitetail buck have been identified and included in the Emmett Pine Catalog.

On a recent visit to the North Country, my brother and sister-in-law presented me with this wonderful painting as a gift for Christmas (see above).  The unframed “oddly” sized, hand stretched canvas measures 17″X 25 1/4″.

The scene is a white tail buck momentarily frozen in surprise, crossing a pond or stream.  The deer is looking directly at the source disrupting this placid glen, beautifully lit by the setting sun. 

The water feature in this work adds difficulty for Pine. The buck’s left rear leg tied to a rock in the pond by its reflection looks like a boot, and the rock below the curved front leg might be the period below a question mark.  Pine built his paintings from the background up, layer by layer; I suspect the rocks were already in the pond when Pine decided to add the buck.  He does do justice to the sky reflecting in the surface of the pond and of the snow on the banks above the water.  His blue shadowing through the woods add depth and dimension to the work.

Winter Buck, Curtesy Robert Studebaker

In this painting of another four point buck, surprised once again by some noise or unexpected activity deep in the winter woods, you can see Pine has put a bit more style into defining the body of the buck.  His rear haunches are well defined as is the shape of his raised hoof.

I suspect that the Studebaker’s painting might have been done later in Pines career.  The tree branches are delicate with a light layering of snow unlike the top painting where winter snow and ice are added in a multitude of bluish blotches similar to winter paintings Pine did in the late 30′s and early 40′s.

These are two very charming paintings of typical scenes Pine would have heard about from customers in his store, friends and family throughout hunting season, year after year.  His sister’s husband and sons were all avid hunters and eager story tellers of their exploits in the woods.  Perhaps these paintings illustrate a couple such stories.

Auger Lake, North Country Summer Camp

Auger Lake is a privately owned 377 acre lake located in the Northeastern Adirondacks near Keeseville.  The lake is surrounded by 85 property owners including North Country Summer Camps for Boys and Girls which occupy a large portion of the eastern side of the lake.

Emmett Pine’s father, J. Henry Pine owned a large farm encompassing many acres right down to the shore of Auger Lake.  Emmett would have spent many days on the farm, too young to do any heavy work; but with the normal curiosity of youth he would have spent plenty of time getting to know the shoreline.

Auger Lake, Collection of TJMM

Emmett’s bright and colorful painting of Auger Lake is likely viewed from Mud Pond, one of the four ponds that contribute to Auger Lake’s makeup.  The work is undated, acrylic on board. In the background Pine has included the smaller rounded mountains and hills that make up the background in many of his landscapes and common to the northeastern portion of the Adirondack Park.

Positioned in the center, both sides of the outlet are lined with the typical spruces, shrubs, wild blueberries and paper birches found throughout the region, reflected in the calm surface of the water.  The birches are textured with heavier paint which give them some dimension on this paintings smooth surface. Pine’s signature is along the shore keeping his work on the waterline and reflections free of interference.

This image from Google Maps has an added pointer showing the location just south of the Lake.

Auger Lake, Courtesy Bruce Sullivan

Emmett repeated many of his favorite themes as seen in this painting.  The familiar shoreline with birches on each side with the rounded mountains in the distance.  The colors of this painting somewhat muted in comparison to the top painting, perhaps a bit more yellow used in the blend giving the work a late summer feeling.  Both paintings are the same size, 22″ X 17″.   

The key to buying or selling a painting by Emmett Pine has always been “being in the right place at the right time”.  Bruce Sullivan bought two paintings by Pine in 2013 at a yard sale for $50.00 which included his painting of Auger Lake.  The top painting was purchased at an estate auction in Keeseville for $2,000.00.  Is the painting worth $2,000.00? It was to the purchaser and to the nephew of the previous owner, the opposing bidder, who drove the price to this historic level before giving up.

Many relatives make the mistake of discounting the naive style of Pine’s work as amateurish and assume the paintings have no value.  When cleaning out after a death in the family I wouldn’t be surprised if many end up in a dumpster.

Experienced professionals from a good auction house like Martin and Sons, recognize value in an estates furniture and art and make sure the audience is peppered with similar collectors maximizing the value of the estate’s collection for the relatives.

The Mud Pond outlet probably looks much the same today as it would have in Emmett’s youth. The banks are still lined with shrubs, birches and evergreens and the lake remains quiet and devoid of any commercial intrusions. Henry Pine’s Meadowbrook Farm is long gone but his relatives remember the beautiful property, and at dusk, the calls of many whip-poor-wills in the surrounding fields and the occasional loon on the lake.

Emmett Pine and his sister Irene were both talented musicians and enjoyed performing.  With Irene on piano, Emmett on drums and the third on fiddle, (either Wilfred Minor or Ching LaDeau) they played at many local halls and church socials. 

Emmett Pine’s Orchestra - L to R:  Wilfred Minor, Irene Pine McCormick and Emmett Pine    Collection of TJMM 

Articles can be found in the archives of local papers during the 50′s that mention occasions that brought the group together for a number of fundraisers or to entertain arriving guests at the start of minstrel shows.  My mother told me how Emmett and Irene would ham it up on stage with Irene mimicking Liberace while introducing her brother Emmett.  Another of his relatives remembered Irene performing pregnant with a scarf or shawl draped down her side to mask her “delicate” condition.

There are at least two wonderful paintings of their band performing at dances. Both paintings have crowded dance floors, the band is lined up in the same order on a long stage with the piano in the middle.  

Pine and Ladies Orchestra Courtesy Stanley Ransom

Emmett included a lot of detail in these colorful paintings with their charming “naive”  perspective.  He even added the reflection of the chandelier in the highly polished dance floor in the bottom image.  A viewer could assume the top dance was in the fall or winter with the dancers in more formal, darker clothing.  T’he bottom work could be summer since one of the gentlemen is in white trousers and bucks.

Pine’s Orchestra Courtesy Jan McCormick

Years later with the band a memory Pine continued to entertained customers in his store, drumming on the counter while they made their selections, not in a bored way but drumming to a tune in his head as if he were part of the band that recorded it.  Irene continued performing for many years playing the organ every Sunday at the St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Mission in Clintonville and entertained her many grandchildren (a tough crowd) playing the themes of their favorite TV shows and a few older tunes like Sonny or Wincester Cathedral from her days in the band.

Astronomically spring arrives on the Vernal Equinox which is the 19th or 20th of March.  With this week’s high temperature forecasted to hit the 70′s and continue in the 50′s to 60′s for the next 10 days, let’s pretend it has arrived early and is here to stay.

Fishing Under The Apple Tree, Courtesy TJMM

Emmett Pine used an apple tree loaded with blossoms in his paintings as a symbol of spring. The painting above depicts a beautiful sunny spring afternoon with shadows lengthening as the sun passes its high point, but still warming the faces of the boy fishing and the young girl picking blossoms from an apple tree.

Apple Tree and Stone Wall, Courtesy C. Hamilton

The wild apple trees common in the woods throughout the AuSable Valley bore predominantly white blossoms from pink buds.  Wild apples, more accurately feral apples, are descendants of old orchard trees that have grown from seed (orchard cultivars are grafted) and have become naturalized in old farm areas. Although the domestic orchard apple is an introduced species, wild apples were widely spread by wildlife through the northern forests so seeing a lone apple tree in any setting is normal.

Spring Farm Scene 1948, Courtesy TJMM

Like many of Pine’s landscapes, the featured element was located near water. The painting above is a glorious view of a river valley from a lone apple tree in a high meadow looking across the river to a quiet farm. The beauty of Pine’s style and the naive genre is the simple happy feeling the viewer gets from these colorful paintings with no tie to a particular decade.  If you’re lucky enough to be the right age his paintings return us to times devoid of the beeps, buzzes and pressures that have become part of our daily lives.

Spring Brook, Courtesy D. L. Lorenz

This is one of my favorite spring paintings by Pine.  The apple tree by the creek is the central object but it is backed up by a pretty flowering shrub in front of a wooden fence and trees on the other side of the creek.  With their upwardly clustered branches, the trees are probably poplars which were very common throughout the region.  These are elements rarely seen in his works and demonstrate the time and care he put into this painting that makes it exceptional.

The Four Seasons, “Spring”, Courtesy TJMM

In the series commissioned by Bunny McCormick called the Four Seasons, Emmett places his apple tree in the mid ground giving the clump of birches and the small river or brook center stage.

Pine always blended his own green from the blues, yellows and other paints on his pallet.  In this painting he has blended an unusual green less vibrant than in other spring paintings.  It almost gives this canvas an faded feeling more common to late summer when the heat and humidity of the valley has burned some color from the landscape.

Over the years I have detected a rushed, “get it done” quality to commissions that you rarely see in a painting he has created from a memory or inspired by something he saw.  I believe this painting is an example of a hurried commission of an often repeated scene.  These birch lined river scenes are all very similar but each has variations, this example has less detail than others and of course the added blossom laden apple tree as the symbol of spring. Compare it to the Spring Creek above and you can see the difference isn’t subtle.

Country Homestead, courtesy TAUNY  www.tauny.org

The apple trees around this homestead would have played an important role in providing this family with fruit not only during the picking season but dried, the apples would have been used well into the fall and winter.

Pine obviously enjoyed producing this work.  You can see the multiple layers of paint applied in this wonderful painting with the grey cabin, barn and the lady at the well.  The field in the foreground and even the hill in the background and the trees in the middle are worked more than some his paintings were in later years. I love the ochre and green drive.  

Living in Keeseville Emmett didn’t have to travel far to see beautiful apple trees.  There was a good sized wild apple in the woods behind his home and his sister Irene in AuSable Chasm, had two, one on each side of the walk leading from the driveway to her kitchen door.  They were in yards, fields and hedgerows along the roads and the AuSable Valley was full of apple orchards, they practically lined the main routes from Keeseville to Plattsburgh.  So there were plenty of subjects to get his creative juices flowing until he stood in his kitchen before a new canvas blending paint and visualizing the scene.

Still Life Apple Blossoms in Blue Vase, Courtesy B. Bowen

Emmett Pine enjoyed having a mode of transportation take top billing in many of his paintings.  We’ve seen the trains and the trolleys, the horse drawn sleighs and carriages. He also painted a couple of cars and at least one truck.

1905 Buick, Courtesy of TJMM from the Collection of Stanley Ransom

In the painting above Pine places the Buick just below “dead” center drawing the viewer to the car but then up to the center and the distant view through the field to the mountains.

Emmett told his friend Stan Ransom that the painting was of his family.  The driver must be his father, squiring three ladies on this sunny drive, the convertible top folded back giving the ladies in their “Sunday” bonnets an unimpeded view of the passing countryside.  One wonders where Emmett could be, why isn’t he in the car with his family?

Emmett Pine holding newly sold painting.  Courtesy Stanley Ransom

I’ve used this wonderful photo previously but it is too much of a gem for only one showing.  Emmett proudly holds up the painting of the 1905 Buick while Stan takes the photo.

Pine did a pretty good job on the car getting most of the details down as if he remembered the car from his youth.  The headlights, the coach lights above and the long hood stretching to the radiator grill.

Black Buick, Courtesy Peter McCormick

In this second painting, once again a Buick, Pine has chosen a smaller car similar to the 1911 Buick Roadster in the photo below.  

The background is simple, the car is traveling on a dirt road with mountains in the distance, a few bushes and trees but nothing that competes with the car as the main focal point.  

This painting appears slightly rushed.  The background paint is very light almost transparent. Pine was using acrylic paints in later years for its quick drying properties.  In this case it seems the paint may have had too much water blended in as it barely covers the canvas.  The car itself is well done and includes most of the Buick features from that time.

Buick 1911 Roadster

Loaded for Market, Courtesy George Arnold, III

This is an amazing painting with a special story I’ll save for another time.  For the fun of it, let’s assume Pine was a real Buick fan and the truck depicted in this wonderful painting was a Buick.  Can we find a picture of an actual Buick truck that resembles the one in the painting.

This photo is close, perhaps an earlier model.  

With the release of its 1908 line, Buick surpassed Ford and Cadillac as the number one producer of vehicles at 8,820 units that year, so Buicks are being seen more and more throughout the country, but are they being seen in the AuSable Valley?

I spoke with one of Emmett Pine’s nephews who told me that Pine’s father did have a car but he couldn’t remember the make.  Emmett would have been 8 in 1905 although an owner would have the car some years after it came out and may have even purchased it used,  several years later.   

His nephew went on to say that even in the late 30′s when he was growing up, cars on the street were very rare.  He could only remember three or four families that had cars other than his family.   In fact even in the 30′s a car was rare enough around Keeseville that you would stop and look as it passed by.  He remembers he and his friends out late at night, playing in the street rarely had to move for an oncoming vehicle of any make. 

We know Pine would tell potential buyers anything they wanted to hear that might strengthen the connection to a painting, in this case it may be true.  Pine’s father had a general store, he sold lumber, he had a large farm several miles outside of town, if there was a person that couldn’t waste time walking, it was John Henry Pine.

Terry Way grew up in Keeseville alongside her six siblings.  Her mother was a housewife her father a contractor and talented stone mason.  Her family home on Pleasant Street is gone now, torn down by the neighboring Dental office to make way for a parking lot, but her happy memories of life on Pleasant Street, remain intact.

In 1964, 15 year old Terry Way paid a visit to Pine’s Store.  Terry wasn’t a stranger here, the store was only three doors down from her house and she found herself entering the store often, running in to pick up groceries for her mother and on occasion, penny candy for herself.  She was a “regular”.

Way loved Pine’s Store.  She remembers the wide plank floors and the ringing bel as she pushed through the door.  The candy case was on the right, ice cream to the left and either Mr. or Mrs. Pine coming through from their home to wait patiently by the register.

Terry remembers Emmett and Blanche as very kind people, particularly Mr. Pine,  “His wonderful smile, blue eyes and great sense of humor.”  Mr. Pine seemed to come through the curtain more often than Mrs. Pine but she remembers Mrs. Pine as always friendly.  Like most of the people that visited the store, she remembers, “Mr. Pine drumming his fingers on the counter, waiting for me to make my selection.”  not out of impatience but as a former drummer, keeping time to a tune only he could hear.  The Pine’s weren’t only shop keepers, they were neighbors.  They enjoyed the neighborhood children running in from time to time, at least that was the impression young Teresa way had of this wonderful couple.

Terry also remembers the paintings hanging in the background, behind the register and placed between the items on the stocked shelves.  She remembers seeing paintings of local churches, lots of winter scenes particularly with horse drawn sleighs and even a few trains.  on this particular visit, the beautiful blues in a painting caught her eye and drew her attention to a small seascape resting on a shelf.

The painting by Pine is an ocean scene with waves breaking against rocks on the shore.  In the distance is a long low point of land with a lighthouse at the end.

Seascape with Lighthouse by Emmett Pine, circa 1964, Courtesy Teresa Way Hicks

After completing her purchase, Terry went home and in passing mentioned the beautiful painting to her mother.

Her parents purchased the painting and presented it to Terry on her birthday. She was so surprised!  It never crossed her mind that her parents could do this. Terry  never knew how much the painting cost, she never asked, and although her birthday was always a special day in the Way home, (Terry was born on Fathers Day 1949 so it was a double celebration), this one would be remembered through the course of her life.

Terry kept the painting on display in her bedroom and when she married it went with her and her husband to their new home.  Way, now Hicks, treasured the painting, not only for the beautiful blues that first drew her to the work but as a remembrance of her parents who listened to a casual comment by their teenage daughter and understood how much it must have meant to her.  To this day this little painting conjures up memories of her childhood, of Mr. and Mrs. Pine, their store and the wonderful village she grew up in.

Terry (39) with her parents in 1988, courtesy Teresa Way Hicks

Terry’s husband, Michael Hicks was in the Air Force and so travel and moving became a part of their life.  At one point, when the decor in her home changed, Terry stored the painting away and displayed  a beautiful piece of driftwood sculpture, a memento of their honeymoon.  Although packed away, the painting stayed with the Hicks through all their moves and stages of life, eventually brought out of storage and placed back on display.

Michael passed away suddenly at age 40 leaving Terry to raise their three children.  over the years Hicks augmented her Air Force pension working several  part time jobs that allowed her the flexibility she needed as a single parent.  Two of her children are still close by.  Her oldest, a daughter born in Spokane, WA is a speech and hearing teacher with three children of her own. her second oldest, one of two sons born in Plattsburgh works at the local State University and her youngest son manages the shipping and receiving department of a store in Maryland.

After raising her three children and a year after her mother passed away, Terry decided  to downsize into a small apartment and so placed some of her possessions into a storage unit, including her painting.  Seven days after moving into the new apartment, the apartment house caught fire destroying most of her possessions, ruined by fire or damaged by smoke and water.  Luckily the painting, safely in storage was preserved and when the dust settled, brought back out and placed on her mother’s buffet (another survivor of the fire) and continues to bring enjoyment and happy memories to Terry, her family and friends.

The painting is a narrow 5 1/2″ inches by 20 1/2″ long.  Oil on canvas stretched over an old board with the tacking margins nailed onto the side of the board.

 Back of painting, canvas tacked onto an old board.

When Emmett Pine felt like painting, if he didn’t have an artist panel, stretched canvas or a masonite panel available, he would grab an old painting and paint over it or use anything at hand to create a paintable surface like a left over piece of canvas and an old board with a bent rusty nail still in the back.  Add a few tacks and he was ready to go.

Side view showing tacking margins nailed to the board.

Terry is now retired and enjoys spending time with her four grand-children and taking care of her one great grand-daughter born on Christmas Eve 2014, while her parents are at work.  She meets her friends every Sunday for dancing, some laughter and to reminisce about the good times they shared.

Teresa Way Hicks, January 1, 2016

Country Lane, Emmett Pine 1949

From Sabbaths 2011

XIII.

Will-lessly the leaves fall, are blown, coming at last to the ground and to their rest. Among them in their coming down purposely the birds pass, of all the unnumbered ways choosing one, until they like the leaves will will-lessly fall. Thus freed by gravity, every one enters the soil, conformed to the craft and wisdom, the behest of God’s appointed vicar, our mother and judge, who binds us each to each, the largest to the least, in the family of all the creatures: great Nature by whom all are changed, none are wasted, none are lost. Supreme artist of this our present world, her works live and move, love their places and their lives in them. And this is praise to the highest knowledge by the most low.

©Wendell Berry

When a potential buyer would ask Emmett Pine what the subject of a painting was, he would often make something up.  A reporter once asked Pine why he did that?  Emmet wisely knew that buyers wanted a connection to the paintings and since many of his works did in fact spring from scenes or pictures he saw throughout his life and bore some relation to his paintings, why not?

In the process of cataloging paintings, I have had to create titles for some of the paintings for no other reason than to keep the catalogue in order.  How many Peanut Railroads can you catalogue? A few owners who purchased them directly from Pine know the subject or title as told by Pine.  When  a painting has changed hands and there is no known title I have to assign one.

The painting above I have titled Moonrise Over Wickam Marsh since it looks exactly like the marsh, viewed from the narrow road wedged between the railroad and the marsh just north of Port Kent.  The painting is a bright moonlit night with a rising full moon appearing through a break in the clouds lighting the marsh below.  The moon’s reflection on the water throws additional light on the trees and weeds along the banks allowing a good view of the landscape, at least until the moon is lost behind the clouds. 

Pine blended blues, yellows, whites and reds together to give the work a cool moody and perhaps a bit mysterious feeling that draws you into the painting wanting to discover more in the hidden depths beyond the view.

Turning the canvas over we find hidden treasure of a sort; first of all, we see that it is not painted on canvas but on a piece of flannel or wool fabric tacked onto a wooden stretcher.  In his hand he has written:  “Painted By Emmett Pine 1941″.  If you look closely at the stretchers you can see a few of the darker letters where he continued to write some notes about the painting. Unfortunately nothing I could do would make the writing visible in a photo but it does continue with: ”Painted By Emmett Pine October 7, 1941 for the Flu Epidemic”.  So once again, Pine has been called upon to donate a work for a good cause.  his painting was likely sold in a raffle, auction or bazaar to raise funds for the influenza epidemic.

In the fall of 1941 there was general concern building almost to alarm that a mild form of influenza moving from the west, eastward would sweep the country.  It followed similar parallels to the dreaded Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918 laying dormant through the warm summer months and increasing in virulence with the arrival of colder weather.

The archives of the many newspapers throughout the north country have articles about the threat and interestingly gave the same advice often seen in today’s papers:  If you feel any symptoms coming on, stay at home, don’t bring the flu to work and spread it to your co-workers or fellow travelers (now called commuters).

What the funds raised were earmarked for I can find no record.  But epidemics were costly, even mild ones.  Tens of thousands in bed sick played havoc with manufacturing plant schedules, farm work and schools.  Doctors and druggist had to be paid, wages were lost, sales fell.  All of it could spell doom for a small local economy so any funds raised to help would be a godsend.

I’m sitting in the audience of my second auction this summer, actually it’s late September, the solstice only a few very hot days ago.  Thoughts of the oppressive heat on the platforms of Grand Central are far away as I watch Doug Martin holding up the second of the two Emmett Pine paintings listed in today’s auction. 

Steve Martin is calling to the audience, pumping  up the adrenalin in hopes of triggering bidding on this painting and once again the bidding is fast and fierce between me and another gentleman with designs on these paintings.

I’m not yet over the shock of placing a ridiculously high winning bid on a small 8′ x 10″ painting by Pine.

In fact the two paintings are both small.  The first is of a home buried in deep snow, windows blazing with light, smoke coming out of the chimney with a full moon lighting the landscape.  One of his nephews believes this is very likely the Pine home in Clintonville.  The house is the same style and coloration and its location on a bend in the road matches the scene above.  If it were a larger canvas the Ford farm would be visible on the other side of the road.

The second painting, slightly larger at 10″ x 12″ is a painting of the Peanut Railroad at Keeseville Station.  This painting of the train has an interesting perspective, moving out of the station passing the artist on his right, leaving him with a diminishing view along the approaching engine down the side of the train.  I bet Pine had fun with this view to the horizon which he did pretty well considering the added difficulty of the small bend in the track.

Bidding was fast between the two of us. I just held my number in the air until I prevailed, but again, at significant expense.  The other gentleman finally realized that I was going to win regardless of price  and finally gave up after driving the price beyond all reasonable value.

The Good:  Two  Pine paintings available only a few months after picking up three at the Moore auction in June.  I believe the prices paid at the Moore auction is getting around and flushing some paintings out of their long time homes in hopes of cashing in on the increasing popularity of these paintings and the high prices they are drawing at auctions..  

The Bad, at least for me:  An experienced auction house like Martin and Son’s doesn’t just take in a clients goods like these paintings and let them sit there until auction day. Steve Martin knows the buyers, he knows what they are interested in and he makes sure a couple or three are at the auction primed to bid the price up. the auction was advertised and a listing was mailed out which included photos of the paintings, so there was little hope of no one bidding against me.  Don’t forget, Steve works very hard for the owners.  For the bidders he insures a good auction, he doesn’t waste time, he doesn’t charge premiums or allow reserves and you can tell it’s appreciated.

Martin and Sons did such a great job getting word out that I had several relatives call to tell me about the auction, not knowing  Steve had already let me know about  these paintings and the upcoming auction back in August.  He even made arrangements for me to view the paintings while I was vacationing in the north country, so it was already on my calendar and I had been fending away any possible conflict for weeks.

Six months ago, the price of a small Emmett Pine painting would have been between $75.00 and $150.00.  At the auction there was a gentleman bidding against me that wanted the painting regardless of price and the two of us drove the price over $1,000.  It really was a ridiculous amount to pay for this small work.

Two auctions with abnormally high results, driven by only two bidders, creates a false market and inflates the price of the artwork and the owners expectations.  If the value were solid, other people would be bidding along with two collectors. 

So here I am at another fun auction with my brother, Steve and Doug Martin taking turns shaking the dust out of peoples wallets, what could be the Ugly? Funny you should ask!

I was talking to my brother when I heard bidding start.  I looked up and saw a nice little antique bench on the stage and quickly threw up my number.  I had seen the bench during the preview and thought I’d bid.  By the end of the bidding, I turned to my brother and said:  “I can’t believe I got that bench for $75.00.”  

Paintings are fragile creations requiring special handling and care beginning literally from the time they are finished.  A painting lives many lives as it’s passed on through the years, from family member to family member or passed out of the family to a friend, sold to a dealer, or as in this case, sold at an auction.  And, as with most works of art, value is in the eye of the beholder and the painting may find itself in various environments that are less than ideal for its preservation.

This painting was completed 75 years ago. We don’t know the number of owners or how they cared for it. Was it hung in a good environment or did it end up on a pile in a dark damp basement? From the condition it is obvious that at some point it wasn’t properly cared for and wasn’t kept in a good environment. Without conservation Pine’s vision of “The Old Mills of Keeseville” would disappear, denying generations from seeing a painting of Keeseville’s industrial past long gone from its landscape.

Paintings typically are made up of various layers.  Paint applied to a supporting backing like a board or canvas, primed with a ground layer then finished with a coat of varnish.  It is common in Naive or Folk art for the artist to skip one or two of these layers which make their paintings more fragile.  This type of canvas art board is usually pre-primed with a white ground before it is attached to the cardboard backing but it does not have a final varnish coat.  The varnish coat is a protective coating that saturates the paint layer and acts as a barrier from damaging and corrosive particles in the atmospheric.

The question for a collector is what are the options?  I’ve already passed the first and most important hurdle. I bought this badly damaged painting, recognizing its importance as one of Pine’s early works and that it had to be saved.  At this point I have two options, the minimum is to stabilize the painting and stop the damage from progressing further.  The proper action is to have it restored to a level as close to the way it was when Emmett Pine finished the work and placed it on the shelf in his store to be sold.  Either action needs professional help, which is why the painting finds itself undergoing Michele Kay’s careful examination at her busy restoration studio in Elmsford, NY.  

For an experienced conservator like Michele most of the damage is visible under close scrutiny occasionally confirming her diagnosis with the magnification visor she uses for close work.  Also placing the painting under different types of light help her to build an outline of its condition and the work that will be necessary to restore this painting.

Raking light illumination with its play of light and shadow show the distortions in the canvas plane and the backing label.   Her examination confirms most of what she saw when the painting was left for conservation.

Michele’s analysis:  “The painting is on warped artist’s canvas board, a sign of storage in a damp environment.  Excessive moisture has caused the cardboard backing support to separate from the canvas along the lower half and develop wild distortions in the canvas plane and the backing label.  The original label on the verso of the panel identifies the art material distributor and manufacturer.”

Most important - the label has the title, date and signature in Pine’s own hand and must be preserved.

The small losses in the paint layer in the lower right quadrant were set down with an appropriate adhesive and mild heat.  The painting was then faced with a gelatinous glue and Japanese tissue paper to protect the front while work was carried out on the back of the canvas.

With the front stabilized, the label was removed mechanically from the board with moisture and gentle teasing.

Specialized tools like scalpels and small spatulas are used to gently separate the label.

After the label was removed, it was soaked in a bath of distilled water and hydrogen peroxide to remove stains and yellowing.

Now the painstaking work begins to remove the cardboard panel in small sections.

Michele’s assistant Moira Yanuck carefully strips away the cardboard backing, strip by painstaking strip.  

Look how the pile has built up while Moira’s work progresses.  With the backing removed the residual glue was softened and scraped from the back of the canvas.

Once freed from the cardboard backing the canvas was flattened over time with slight moisture and flat weights.

They now have a clean canvas ready for the next step.  Michele attached sized linen canvas strips to the inner fold of the tacking margin.  This was to increase the length of the margin in order to facilitate stretching the painting over a new custom-made stretcher.  The strips were attached with a heat activated adhesive film.

With the verso nearly completed it was time to begin work on the paintings face, beginning with the removal of the protective Japanese tissue paper.

The small areas  of paint loss were filled with gesso putty and leveled.  Also missing impasto texture was added to create the continuous flow of rushing water in the lower right corner.  These retouches were carried out with gouache and Gamblin restoration colors.

With the restoration of the face complete the canvas is carefully stretched over its new stretcher.

One of the simplest and most important preservation steps you can take is to have a protective backing board attached to the reverse of the stretcher. Michele attaches a Fome-Cor backing to the reverse which will reduce exposure of the canvas to rapid environmental changes, keep out dust, foreign objects and protect against damage during handling.

And the finishing touch - the original manufacturers label, reinforced  with an inert, non-fiberous material, is slipped into a specially made mylar sleeve and attached to the back.

With the restoration complete and the painting properly hung it is ready to enjoy another 75 years.  Scroll up to the start of the post to compare the beginning photo with the finished one below.

Working on this project with a professional conservator like Michele Kay who carried out the meticulous work on this painting, treating it like a masterpiece, and taking no shortcuts was an amazing experience for my first restoration.  And now this small 9 X 12 painting will continue to be part of the history of Keeseville, a record of its past now preserved for many to enjoy.  History recorded through the talent and vision of Emmett Pine.

A very special thank you to Michele Kay, not only for her fine work, but also for her help while I was writing this post, answering questions, providing the photographs of her work as it progressed, advising and reviewing.  My post like my painting is in a much better state due to her.

Michele S. Kay Studio, Elmsford, New York www.FinePaintingsConservation.com    [email protected]

Old Mills of Keeseville, Courtesy TJMM

On the surface, and in the photograph above, Pine’s painting looks pretty good. Of the three recently acquired at last weeks auction, two nicely framed paintings are already hanging.  This one, however; needs help before going to the framers.

Difficult to see in the photo this painting, canvas-on-board (cardboard), is badly distorted and rippled across the front with visible signs of moisture damage. 

Turn it over and the damage from moisture is very easy to see.  The back is peeling away, spotted with mold and the tacking margins are not attached.

Further inspection shows the mold is through the back and into the cardboard backing, whether it stops there I cant tell.  The paint layer is very friable, in fact what looks like white ripples on the water above the dam in the lower quadrant is actually where the paint has lifted off the canvas.  This needs to be seen by a conservator.

Conservation services for a work of art, is not for the faint of heart. Conservators are highly educated and a good one has trained with experts and has years of experience.  Conserving a work of art can take hours, days and weeks of painstaking work, and the charges reflect the work of the conservator and in this case, well above the value of the painting.  Whether a painting is worth conserving or not is up to the owner of the canvas.  In my case, this small painting is dated 1940, soon after Pine began painting so a very early work by him.  Paintings of the old mills by the upper dam in Keeseville are rare so in my judgement - it must be preserved.  Luckily, a very talented conservator is located close to home.  

 Michele S. Kay - Fine Paintings Conservation and Restoration  www.finepaintingsconservation.com

Michele Kay at work in her studio.

Michele S. Kay graduated from Tyler School of Art at Temple University. She received her classical European training in the craft of paintings restoration in Florence, Italy where she worked for several years in the studio and workshop of Ennio Regola. After returning to the United States in 1981, Michele continued to develop her technical skills and gentle-handed approach while at New York Conservation Associates, Ltd., The Brooklyn Museum of Art, and at Dianne Dwyer Studio, Inc. Ms. Kay established her own conservation studio in 1992 and continues to work on traditional easel paintings of different periods and schools.

Michele examines the extent of the damage.

After examining the painting Michele’s proposed treatment:

“The painting would be consolidated and set down with appropriate adhesive.  The soot and grime would be removed with water dampened cotton swabs.  The face would be protected with Japanese tissue paper and starch glue.  The canvas would be gingerly separated from the board and residual glue and paper would be mechanically scraped from the verso.  The painting would be flattened over time with slight moisture and weights.  The mold stains would be disinfected and bleached.  A custom made stretcher would be fitted to the painting and the tacking edges would be reinforced with linen strips and adhered with Beva 371 heat activated glue.  The losses would be filled  and retouched. A foam core board would be attached to the back of the stretcher and the original canvas board label would be attached to the back of the board.”