Works by Cubist painter Fannie Hillsmith, who has deep ties to Jaffrey, will be featured in an upcoming exhibition at the Jaffrey Civic Center, featuring works from throughout her lifetime.
Despite her career being based mostly in New York City, Hillsmith was a long-time summer resident of Jaffrey, and eventually settled there full-time.
She developed a style of Cubism which combined traditional Cubist motifs with what she called “an early American feeling.”
Hillsmith was born in Boston, Mass., in 1911. Her grandfather, Frank Hill Smith, was also a painter and one of the founders of the Boston Museum School, which Fannie Hillsmith graduated from in 1934. Frank Hill Smith’s son, and Hillsmith’s father, Clarence, was the first to stylize the family name as “Hillsmith”.
The Hillsmiths’ ties to Jaffrey stretch back to Hillsmith’s youth. Her father purchased a substantial amount of land along Thorndike Pond, and while the family’s primary residence remained in Boston, Jaffrey became a summer home and creative sanctuary.
According to Jeanne Duval, who is the curator for the Hillsmith exhibit, Fannie spent “every summer of her life” at Thorndike Pond, even after she moved to New York City in adulthood. She would paint the rustic interiors of her Jaffrey home and early American antiques, and the local landscapes.
After graduation, Hillsmith moved from Boston to New York, where she studied with William Zorach at the Art Students League.
She began showing with her first exhibition at the Norlyst Gallery, owned by Jimmy Ernst, in 1943. Over her career, her works have been featured in the finest museums in the United States, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts.
Hillsmith eventually moved to Jaffrey permanently, but remained an active artist.
“In her later years, Fannie left the city behind and moved to the Jaffrey estate year-round,” said Duval. “She remained an active, treasured member of the local community, painting in her studio almost every single day until she passed away in 2007, at the age of 96.”
Hillsmith’s works remain in collections of major institutions, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
There will be an opening reception for the exhibit on Friday, Aug. 1, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Civic Center. The show will be on display at the Civic Center through Sept. 12 and is available for viewing for free during Civic Center hours. The Jaffrey Civic Center is free and open to the public during regular gallery hours, Wednesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.