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S A L M A G U N D I   A R T   C O L L E C T I O N

Salmagundi curatorial committee is responsible for maintaining Salmagundi’s permanent art collection of approximately 1,800 works from the 1840s to today, including: paintings, sculpture, objects and works on paper by its past and present artist members.

The collection is composed of exhibition purchase prizes, competition purchase prizes, artist donations, and estate bequests.

The works are rotated on a continual basis throughout the townhouse and are featured in live shows and online exhibitions throughout the year.

Exhibitions mounted by the curatorial committee feature past artist members of Salmagundi or historically important people, places and events that influenced the club.  Each exhibition attempts to address a diverse range of audiences, including representational artists, collectors of art and the general public.  The shows aim to educate on history, technical art and painting knowledge and inform visually.

The museum works with Salmagundi’s Programming Committee to expand the reach of the exhibitions to young museum goers, general public and members of the organization.

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P A L E T T E   C O L L E C T I O N

Palette 087 - George Henry Smillie (1840-1921)
Palette 087 – George Henry Smillie (1840-1921)

 

S A L M A G U N D I   A M E R I C A N   A R T I S T
P A L E T T E   C O L L E C T I O N

The artist’s palette collection is one of the largest private collections of American artist’s palettes in the world numbering approximately 140. A large portion of the collection has been donated by a former artist member of the club, Harry Wilson Watrous (1857-1940) in about 1917 or 1918.

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Raymond "Ray" Perry (1876-1960) : Mug 24, 1923.
Raymond “Ray” Perry (1876-1960) : Mug 24, 1923.

 

S A L M A G U N D I   M U G   C O L L E C T I O N

Beginning in 1899, club member and head of the library, William Henry Shelton (1840-1932), commissioned blank ceramic mugs to be painted by members and auctioned off to support the library fund (later called the library “Mug Fund.”)

Fellow artist member Charles Volkmar (1841-1914), who ran the Volkmar Pottery factory in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, produced the mugs for the Salmagundi.

Mugs were produced between 1899 and 1924, auctioning 24 per year. There are possibly 600 mugs that exist.

Over the years, some of the mugs have been bought back by members and donated to the club to preserve their important history. The club currently owns approximately 80 examples.

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