Description: This is a lovely and vibrant Fine Antique Old Early Chicago Plein Air Impressionist Landscape Oil Painting on Artist Board, by esteemed University of Chicago educator and American Impressionist painter, Frederick "Fred" De Forrest Schook (1872 - 1942.) Schook was born in Michigan and spent his formative artistic years in the Great Lakes area. In the early 1920's, Schook and artist Frederic Victor Poole (1865 - 1936) founded an artist colony for WWI veterans in the Door County region of Wisconsin, along the coast of Lake Michigan. This soon took off and became a full-fledged artistic movement in the Wisconsin Great Lakes region, and his former studio home still stands today as a rental property titled the "Schook Shack." Frederick De Forrest Schook was well received and fondly remembered in France, and during the 1910's Great War era, he exhibited several times and produced multiple works of art, embedding himself in the French artistic community. This painting depicts a bucolic and sun-kissed shoreside landscape scene, of tall, delicately painted trees and foliage, small hills in the distance, and a lakeshore or pond in the distant foreground. At the edge of this shoreline are two figures, who appear to be a mother and small child, wearing flowing white dresses. Schook was clearly influenced by his French predecessors, and this painting would blend in perfectly with the legendary French Impressionists of the late 19th century. This piece likely dates to the early 1920's, and presumably depicts the Door County coast of Lake Michigan. Approximately 16 1/8 x 17 1/8 inches (including frame.) Actual visible artwork is approximately 10 3/4 x 12 inches. Good condition for a century of age and storage, with mild scuffing, edge wear and gilding loss to the original period gilded wood frame. Additionally, there are some faint speckles of soiling and dirt under the glass of this frame (please see photos.) Acquired from an old collection in Los Angeles County, California. If you like what you see, I encourage you to make an Offer. Please check out my other listings for more wonderful and unique artworks! About the Artist: Fred De Forrest Schook Born: 1872 - MichiganDied: 1942Known for: Figure and landscape painting, illustration, writing Fred De Forrest Schook (1872 - 1942) was active/lived in Illinois, Michigan. Fred Schook is known for Figure and landscape painting, illustration, writing."Fred de Forrest Schook is another Grand Rapids man who has become well known as an artist and illustrator. Although his home is in this city he has a studio in Chicago and has become identified with Chicago artists. He has done a large amount of work for the Century Publishing company and current magazines." "Grand Rapids Artists and Writers," Grand Rapids Press, undated, 1901. Frederick De Forrest Schook (1872 – October 13, 1942) was an American painter and illustrator. Frederick De Forrest Schook was born in 1872 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, the son of William Schook (1839-1903), a carpenter, and Sarah L. Powers Schook (1840-1932). He married Amy Victoria Bynon Schook (1876–1940) and they had two children, Dorothy and Jane.He studied art in France and England. Many of his paintings have been exhibited there.In France, he is part of the artistic colony of Étaples, and one of his works is part of the collection of the museum of Le Touquet-Paris-Plage.He died on October 13, 1942 in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin Chicago Daily Tribune, Oct. 15, 1942"F. de Forrest Schook,Funeral Services for F. de Forrest Schook, retired Art Institute teacher, will be held today at Bally's(sic) Harbor, Wis. Mr. Schook, who died Tuesday at Sturgeon Bay, Wis., taught painting and illustrations at the Chicago Institute for more than 25 years. He was born in Grand Rapids. Mich., 72 years ago and studied art in France and England. Many of his paintings have been exhibited thruout(sic) the country. Two daughters, Mrs. Dorothy Cole and Mrs. Jane Rogers, survive." The art community continues to thrive on the Door peninsulaFor over 100 years people have flocked to Door County from Chicago and other metropolitan areas for its natural beauty and a way to escape the heat of the summer. The landscape was a retreat and creative inspiration especially to artists and art instructors.One of the first summer art colonies was started in Baileys Harbor by Art Institute of Chicago professors Frederick De Forest Schook and Frederic Victor Poole after receiving funding through the Soldier Rehabilitation Act of 1918. The colony attracted the attention of locals as the soldiers’ art spread throughout the area. Famous filmmaker and artist Madeline Tourtelot began establishing art schools in Door County in 1943 which later became the Peninsula School of Art in 1965. A Look Back at Door County’s Art Appeal: Frogtown Art Colony It began in 1922 and lasted just three years, but it was the beginning of Door County’s fame as a Mecca for artists. On the heels of World War I and thanks in part to the Soldier Rehabilitation Act of 1918, the Frogtown Art Colony set up camp on the shores of Lake Michigan in Baileys Harbor.In the summer of 1922, Frederick De Forest Schook and Frederic Victor Poole, professors at the Art Institute of Chicago, established the camp in the Frogtown community south of the village. The name Frogtown can be traced to the nickname for a French couple who lived in the area. Apparently, the practice of referring to the French as Frogs was based on the green hue of their WWI uniforms, hats and boots and was not, at that time, considered derogatory.Schook had heard about Door County’s natural beauty from Art Institute of Chicago students Alice Apfelbach and Ferdie Hotz, Jr., and in 1921 he hired Bill Tishler Sr. and Frank Oldenburg to build a summer home for him on Muckian Road. He recognized that it was an ideal spot for a program for aspiring painters and recruited Poole to join him in developing the art colony the following summer. Poole also built a cottage that year, although he chose a spot across the road, as his wife didn’t want to be too near the water.While the professors had their newly built cottages, the art students were put up in other accommodations. The single men had rooms at the nearby Lakeside Lodge owned by Annabelle and Bill Muckian, and all the students took their meals there. A federal grant provided married students with lanterns, stoves and tents rented from Frank Blakefield, who owned a general store at the present location of the Yum Yum Tree.At that time, Muckian Road was an extension of Bay Shore Drive (now Frogtown Road), running right along the water’s edge. Later Cornelius Tecktonius, a businessman from Racine, built a home near the lodge and objected to the road crossing his property. It was rerouted behind the houses and eventually renamed Chapel Lane.There were 20 students the first summer. An article in a local newspaper reported that those who had studied art before the war worked in watercolors or oil, while the beginners sketched with crayons. In their spare time, they dismantled several abandoned log buildings on the Charles Honold farm and built an art studio under the supervision of Frank Oldenburg. At the end of the summer, the artists presented a play, Down East, at Schram’s Hall and also in Egg Harbor and Sturgeon Bay.By the summer of 1923, Harry Anthony DeYoung, also from the Art Institute of Chicago, was added to the staff, and 45 students were enrolled for 12 weeks. Their activities soon became the talk of the community. Nearly every column of Baileys Harbor news in the Advocate included reports on what the young men were up to. Residents liked to watch them as they drew and painted around town, and they became famous for their entertainments.A news article by Mary Ann Johnson reported that the students “were full of ambition, deviltry and a little talent and, given a July 4 holiday with no plans in sight, they decided to give the town a little excitement.“Posters were painted and put up in neighboring towns and when the day came, quite a crowd assembled along the village sidewalks. There were few cars then to use for floats and very little material for decoration, but the artists were ingenious, and it was surprising how costumes and props were improvised and borrowed. There were flower girls strewing flowers for the marchers (local youngsters), a snake charmer and his viper, a Wildman from Borneo, a hay rack with hula girls and even a giraffe (handmade of course!).”After the parade, the artists’ baseball team, Duke’s Comedy, played the Baileys Harbor Giants. Later in the afternoon, fight fans attended a four-bout boxing exhibition at Schram’s Hall. Good order was assured by the sponsoring Athletic Club. Three of the students donated oil paintings as prizes for a costume party at Wasserbach Hall.But changes were coming. In 1924, the Muckians sold the lodge, which burned to the ground six years later. Fewer veterans attended the art school that summer, but they were joined by some private students. In 1925 and ’26, Schook and Poole taught classes for the Art League in Green Bay, and Schook also had private classes in Ephraim that were the beginning of the Peninsula Art Association.Schook died in 1942, and the art studio his students built is long gone. But his home, the Schook Shack, belongs to two grandsons, both professors at the University of Virginia. Poole continued to spend his summers in Door County, until his death here on July 4, 1936. His great-granddaughter, Margaret Poole, now owns his log home and studio, Burnt Hollow. A retrospective exhibit of his work was held at the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay in 1979, and its permanent collection contains excellent examples of work by both men, aptly titled “Frogtown” and “Fall Day on Frogtown Road.” DeYoung moved to Texas in 1928 and died in 1956.While few physical remnants of the Frogtown Art Colony remain, the spirit it brought to the community lives on in the artists who continue to learn and create in Door County.
Price: 1350 USD
Location: Orange, California
End Time: 2024-09-23T00:02:32.000Z
Shipping Cost: N/A USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Artist: De Forrest Schook
Unit of Sale: Single Piece
Signed By: De Forrest Schook
Size: Small
Signed: Yes
Period: Early 20th Century (1900-1920)
Material: Oil, Artist Board
Region of Origin: Illinois, USA
Framing: Matted & Framed
Subject: Baby, Chicago, Children & Infants, Community Life, Family, Figures, Forest, Ladies, Landscape, Plants, Seasons, Silhouettes, States & Counties, Tree, Women
Type: Painting
Original/Licensed Reproduction: Original
Item Height: 17 1/8 in
Theme: Americana, Art, Cities & Towns, Continents & Countries, Domestic & Family Life, Exhibitions, Famous Places, Fashion, History, Nature, People, Portrait
Style: Americana, Impressionism, Plein Air
Features: One of a Kind (OOAK)
Production Technique: Oil Painting
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Item Width: 16 1/8 in
Handmade: Yes
Time Period Produced: 1900-1924
