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Interior view of the Paul Revere Room (Chapel Chamber) at Beauport, Sleeper-McCann House as it appeared during Henry Davis Sleeper's lifetime. Sleeper family silver is arranged on shelves in the corner cupboard. Oil on board. Carved gilt frame.
oil painting (technique)
oil paint (paint)
canvas board
paper (fiber product)
Painting
"Artful Stories": When Country Life magazine invited Sleeper to illustrate a dozen of his rooms, he arranged to have them painted by William Ranken, a portraitist introduced to Boston society by John Singer Sargent. Rankens view of the Chapel Chamber focuses on the important collection of silver by Paul Revere which Sleeper donated to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Sleepers eclectically furnished room is a masterclass in color orchestrations and contrasts of light and shadow. Note the brushstrokes that suggest sunlight on the floor, and how Ranken toned down the vivid wallpaper to retain focus on the cabinet.
"WER 1928" (Dark gray paint)
Revere Room, Paul
Original to Beauport, Sleeper-McCann House (Gloucester, Mass.),
Ranken, William Bruce Ellis (British painter, 1881-1941) (Artist)
Gloucester, Massachusetts, United States
34 3/8 x 25 1/2 x 1 1/8 (HxWxD) (inches)
Gift of Constance McCann Betts, Helena Woolworth Guest and Frasier W. McCann
1942.4634
Massachusetts (United States)
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