Dawn

Object Details

• Artist

  Dwight William Tryon (1849-1925)

• Label

  In 1891, Tryon offered to paint a picture or two for the house Charles Lang Freer was building in Detroit, "a dream of Beauty," as it was described, "inside and out." Freer readily accepted Tryon's offer, and before long the commission had grown to include seven paintings for the main hall: Summer (F1893.15), Autumn (F1893.16), Winter (F1893.17), Springtime (F1893.14) and Dawn. In these "decorations," as Tryon called these paintings, the artist attempted to maintain the classic "purity" of the interior design by keeping a consistent horizon in every scene. Although some of the paintings were occassionaly exhibited separately, Freer and Tryon always regarded them as an "ensemble."

  Dawn was the final painting in the decorative cycle for Freer's hall, where it hung above one mantel of a doublesided fireplace. Dawn was conceived as a site-specific work, but Tryon and Freer also anticipated its periodic absence. The space behind the picture was paneled in oak so that, as the artist explained to Freer, "when the picture is removed (for exhibition and other uses) the room will appear complete." At Tryon's request, Freer lent Dawn to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1901, to a solo exhibition in New York in 1903, and to a "small tasteful" showing of works by Dewing and Tryon in New York in 1907.

• Provenance

  From 1893 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from the artist, Dwight William Tryon in 1893 [1]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]

  Notes:

  [1] Purchased from Dwight William Tryon on April 12, 1893 (see Curatorial Remark 5, Linda Merrill, May 1989, in the object record).

  [2] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Surface Beauty: American Art and Freer's Aesthetic Vision (February 23, 2008 to August 1, 2010)

  Choice Spirits: Works by Thomas Dewing and Dwight Tryon (March 9, 1996 to July 7, 1997)

  American Art - Dwight William Tryon (May 9, 1993 to February 20, 1996)

  Exhibition of Paintings by T.W. Dewing and D.W. Tryon, Montross Gallery, New York, 1907 (February 20 to March 9, 1907)

  The Seventieth Annual Exhibition (January 14 to February 23, 1901)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Dwight William Tryon (1849-1925) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  United States

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1890s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Tryon, Dwight William

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Landscapes, Art, American Art, Sunrise

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings