Salem resident Ann Whittier has a family heirloom more precious than most. As the granddaughter of a nationally recognized artist, every room in her home is adorned with the paintings, watercolors, decorative furniture — even napkin doodles — created by her grandfather, Johan Selmer-Larsen, and aunt, Ingrid Selmer-Larsen. Turning the corner into her kitchen, an old photograph of her grandfather hangs on the refrigerator. It's clear that Whittier has a special place in her heart for her ancestor's talent.
Every day, Whittier can look at images of sculptures her grandfather created for private collections, national monuments and local benchmarks. The stories of these two artists link Whittier and her family to local history as well as U.S. history, with some of her aunt's paintings hanging in the National Gallery of Art. Whittier's son Justin has followed in the family footsteps; he's a sculptor and a "painter in his off time," said Whittier.
Next Thursday, the Marblehead Arts Association and the Marblehead Museum and Historical Society will host a joint reception to honor the father-daughter team of artists and their long local history.
Ingrid Selmer-Larsen's exhibit at the Marblehead Museum, which will remain open through August, will feature 50 of her watercolor paintings. The work of her father, Johan Selmer-Larsen, a sculptor, painter and woodcarver, will be on display around the corner at the King Hooper Mansion. On the night of the reception both exhibits will be open.
The Marblehead Arts Association will display around 50 of Johan Selmer-Larsen's extensive range of artistic work, including a number of his sculptures, some small oil paintings and watercolors, as well as his famed model sailboat, The Broom IV, which won many model sailboat races in its day.
"Johan was the more prolific, eclectic artist," said Deborah Greel, executive director of the Marblehead Arts Association.
Though Ingrid Selmer-Larsen's entire collection includes watercolors of many subjects, the Marblehead Museum will feature those of recognizable local places, such as Marblehead Harbor and Abbot Hall, in accordance with its mission to "collect and preserve the history of Marblehead." It is using some paintings from its own collection and a majority from the private collection of Whittier, Ingrid Selmer-Larsen's niece. The work will range from the 1930s to the 1980s.
"They chronicle what Marblehead looked like before it got so busy," said Whittier.
Representatives of the Marblehead Museum came in contact with Ingrid Selmer-Larsen's work when they interviewed her about a year before her death to record her oral history, according to Karen Mac Innis, the museum's curator of collections. The museum will feature her work to honor a significant "local talent," and exhibit the town through the eyes of a lifelong resident, said Mac Innis, who added that she expects local residents and Marblehead enthusiasts to attend.
"People in Marblehead really resonate in anything related to Marblehead history," said Mac Innis. "There is a real pride of place."
Ingrid Selmer-Larsen's art not only shows the historical evolution of significant Massachusetts landmarks, it also gives the viewer a serene view of a typical New England town. The classic small town charm — through the somewhat blurred edges of watercolor painting — casts a calming, pensive, almost dreamlike glow upon the subjects.
A viewer can gain historical insight not only through the subjects of her paintings, but also by simply imagining the young artist at work. Her painting style reveals the easygoing life of a talented woman, working hard to make a name for herself while sticking true to her artistic convictions. According to Whittier, the Selmer-Larsen family put its children's artistic education at the forefront and the household was a nurturing artistic environment.
The family had a small rowboat, and as a young woman, Ingrid Selmer-Larsen would row off shore and spend her day painting, said Whittier.
"It shows she was really an artist," Whittier said.
In 1930, Ingrid Selmer-Larsen was accepted with scholarship into the School at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where she studied under prominent local artists and earned enough renown to travel to Paris and study at the Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts, where she learned the technique of applied design. Back home, she was accepted, alongside her father, as the youngest founding member of the Marblehead Arts Association.
"As a young woman, she really broke ground," said Whittier.
When she returned to Marblehead, she opened a shop in which she sold decorative furniture pieces such as bureaus and chests, "but her true love was painting nature," said Whittier.
As a tribute, the style of the exhibits will feature the art in a way that will imitate how the artists lived their lives, she added.
"We wanted to keep it simple," Whittier said. "Like the way the family was."
If you go
What: Opening reception for local artists Ingrid and Johan Selmer-Larsen's artwork display
Where: Marblehead Museum and Historical Society, 170 Washington St., and The King Hooper Mansion, 8 Hooper St.
When: Thursday, May 29, 6 to 8 p.m.
Admission: Free
Info: www.marbleheadmuseum.org, www.marbleheadarts.org
