Walter MacEwen, Other Inspirations

"The Witches" by Walter MacEwen

"At the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Walter MacEwen and Gari Melchers sat on the National Jury of American artists and were also invited to exhibit. MacEwen submitted four paintings. Three were of Dutch peasant life, but the fourth was 'The Witches,' a history painting depicting American subject matter.

It was monumental - approximately 6.5 feet by 10 feet. Combined with a renewed interest in America's early history during the 1880s and 1890s, 'The Witches,' inspired by the 1692 witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, was one of the most talked about pieces among exposition visitors. 

 

MacEwen also broke from his Dutch subject matter when he painted a work titled 'A Magdalen.' He was inspired to paint it after noticing a beautiful and richly dressed young woman attending a Christmas Eve midnight mass at St. Michael's church in Munich. She had entered the church, humbly placed a lit taper on the pew, then knelt in prayer.

"A Magdalen" by Walter MacEwen

When the woman left, he followed her out only to see her being driven away in a carriage. She could have come from a high station in society, but MacEwen read another meaning into the humility and anguish he saw in her expression and posture. He imagined that she could have been a repentant prostitute, a Mary Magdalene as it were, who was redeemed as she became a follower of Christ."

 

When the Chicago 'Times-Herald' reviewed it, it was hailed as 'the greatest picture yet painted by the Chicago artist..replete with refined imagination and subtle insight into character. It marked the pinnacle of his career."

 

To be continued

 

(Excerpts from "Walter MacEwen: A Forgotten Episode in American Art" by Rhonda Kay Cross.)