Guy Carleton Wiggins (1883-1962)

The story of Guy Carleton Wiggins serves as a reminder that although pedigree is not a guarantee for success it certainly counts for something. As the middle generation of three generations of successful artists, Guy Carleton Wiggins achieved the most acclaim. His father, John Carleton Wiggins (or simply Carleton Wiggins) was an accomplished landscape artist. Carleton Wiggins had studied under George Inness, probably the most famous American landscape artist of the 19th century. After the birth of Guy, Carleton moved his family to England. While in England Guy would receive his grammar schooling and the beginnings of his formal art training from his father. Although abroad, and only eight years old, Guy Wiggins' received his first public praise from a group of New York critics. Receiving enormous recognition at early stages of his life would become a trend for Wiggins.

After returning to the United States, Guy Wiggins studied architecture at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and then studied painting at the National Academy of Design. As his father had, Guy studied under some of the finest art instructors of the day; in this case William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri. Using his knowledge of architecture and adopting his interest in Impressionism Wiggins painted "Metropolitan Tower". The painting was purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1912 and by all accounts it made him the youngest artist to have a painting entered into the museum's permanent collection.

Wiggins career would be defined by his Impressionist style, using color as illumination. He spent time going back and forth from his home in Old Lyme, Connecticut and his studio in New York City. In Connecticut he would paint the landscapes, capturing the open fields and rolling hills in spring and summer. Oddly enough his greatest financial success was due to one such summer landscape...in a roundabout way. During a snowstorm in New York, Wiggins was attempting to paint a summer landscape and became frustrated. While looking out his window Wiggins became inspired by the snowfall's effect on the city's scenery. He began painting a series of winter cityscapes and they became the most popular and desirable from his entire body of work.

To name all of the awards Guy Carleton Wiggins received would take too long to write and would be cumbersome to read. We will just say that he won about as many as were available to win as well as having his works displayed in almost every major museum and collection, including two pieces in the White House. He stayed true to the Impressionist style, even after the movement was considered over. The Gilt Complex is fortunate enough to have wonderful paintings from both John Carleton Wiggins and Guy A. Wiggins (Guy Carleton's son) in our possession and available for sale. Some day soon we hope to also have a master work Guy Carleton Wiggins to fuse the generations.

William Trost Richards (1833-1905)

Born in Philadelphia, William Trost Richards did not get off to the audacious start one might associate with a successful artist of the 19th century. It is said he enjoyed drawing from a very early age, but all childhood fancies were put on hold when Richards' father died in 1847. At the tender age of fourteen Richards dropped out of high school and took a job designing metal fixtures to support his family. This act of responsibility beyond his years was a sign of the ambition and determination Richards would use to his benefit in the coming years.
At 17 years old, while still working in metal fixtures, Richards began to study privately. along with eventual contemporary William Stanley Haseltine, under the famed German landscape artist Paul Weber. It could not have been a better time as he spent the next few years sketching the Hudson River Valley with artists such as Frederic Edwin Church, John Kensett and Jasper Cropsey; an all-star team of artisans by today's standards. Richards was particularly influenced by Church and Kensett. Along with fellow student William Haseltine, Richards followed in the footsteps of most great artisans and made the trip to study in Europe. Upon returning he eventually settled in Newport, Rhode Island. He became famous for his paintings of land and sea, particularly for his seascapes of the eastern coastline. As a gallery in southern New Jersey we take great pride in the fact that some of Richards' finest seascapes were painted of the New Jersey coastlines of Atlantic City and Cape May.
Richards style can be summed up in one word: meticulous. As a member of the Society of Truth in Art, Richards painted with an almost painful amount of attention to detail. His seascapes are a prime example, leaving the viewer with no doubt as to the expanse of the shoreline, the dampness of the sand, and the affects of the weather on wave conditions and debris left by storms and tides.

Severin Roesen (c.1815 - 1872)

We know a great deal about the magnificent brush work, attention to detail and refined palette of Severin Roesen. Oddly enough, the details of his life that should be the easiest to obtain are what we know the least about. What is not in question, however, is his enormous talent and the mark he left on the art world.

Roesen's birth is the first of those small mysteries in that he was either born in 1815 or 1816 in Cologne, Germany. It is assumed that he studied porcelain and enamel painting in the great German tradition. To compliment his skill, Roesen was also a man of impeccable timing. A successful German art exhibition in New York in 1847 had created a great demand for the kind of fine art Roesen was accustomed to producing. Settling in New York less than a year after the exhibition, Roesen had no trouble creating a comfortable living for his family. A decade later Roesen's sense of timing once again shone through as he began to paint in and eventually moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The town had experienced a tremendous economic boost, as wealth was created due to a very successful logging industry. The demand for Roesen's works and skill as an instructor combined with the expendable monies of the people in the area once again ensured a very comfortable living for his family. Roesen cemented his financial success with the use of botanical subjects and painting on oval stretched canvas, the popular choice of the time.

Strange as it is that we do not know the exact year of Roesen's birth, it is even more odd what happened surrounding his death. We don't know when he died because in 1872 he seemingly vanished into thin air. What he left behind is a body of works of the highest quality. The importance of Roesen's contributions to the art of still life painting, especially as it pertains to the use of floral subjects are unquestioned. The desire for his work is just as high today as it was in the 19th century, although the price jumped since then. In 2004 one of his pieces sold at auction for over 1.5 million dollars!