Francis Speight

(American, 1896-1989)

White House with Variations, 1930

oil on canvas

signed Francis Speight and dated (lower right)

50 x 40 inches.

The Collection of Philip and Judith Sieg, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

Provenance:

The Artist

Acquired from the Artist by the present owners, 1975

Exhibited:

Washington, DC, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Thirteenth Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings, December 4, 1932 - January 25, 1933, no. 148

University Park, Pennsylvania State University Art Museum, Manayunk and Other Places: Paintings and Drawings by Francis Speight, September 8 - October 27, 1974, no. 11, pp. 9; 38, illus.

Lot note:

Born and raised in rural North Carolina, Francis Speight began his formal art education in 1920 at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, but, after seeing an exhibition of Daniel Garber’s landscapes, he enrolled to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Thereafter he remained at the Academy--first as a student, then as a teacher--for more than forty years. For most of this time, Speight's major subject was Manayunk, the subject of White House with Variations, 1930. Manayunk was an industrial area set above the Schuylkill River on the edge of Philadelphia. The hills, the light, and the architecture were endlessly fascinating to the artist, and he returned again and again to paint the same subject, often the same viewpoint, in all kinds of weather and at various times of day.

According to a 1975 letter written by Speight to Philip Sieg, who purchased the painting directly from the artist, the present painting was executed from the front porch of Mrs. McHenry’s home, 57 Jefferson Street in West Manayunk (now Belmont Hills), Pennsylvania. The artist lived in Manayunk for three or four years, while also sharing a studio part time in Philadelphia with the brothers Walter and Cyril Gardner. The studio had a Victrola and records of classical music, which Speight listened to. He particularly liked Johannes Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn, a work in the form of a theme and variations. Inspired by the musical piece, the artist writes in the letter, “I decided to try to do a painting with variations in white using the white house across the street from Mrs. McHenry’s.” These “variations” can be seen in the white house, composed of warm, glowing whites highlighted by rose and yellow hues, which contrast against the deep blue-purple shadows cast by the overhanging eves and shrubbery to the left.

Speight primarily concerned himself with depictions of quotidian life and focused his efforts in rural and suburban landscapes around Philadelphia, finding beauty in the industrial. In White House with Variations, figures walk along a steep hill in front of the house, emphasizing the daily routines of Pennsylvanians. The high horizon line allows the town to sprawl behind the subject, and the blue sky complements the red tones of the buildings clustered on the rolling hills of the landscape. Although the artwork is representational, it embodies the “lyrical interpretation” Speight’s oeuvre was often described as. He would often paint the sky to portray a specific mood rather than strictly adhering to the weather conditions in which he painted the scene. In this way, the artist imbues his work with a sense of calm and transforms the everyday into visual poetry.

White House with Variations, 1930