Guy Carleton Wiggins NA (February 23, 1883 – April 25, 1962) was an American

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

painter. He was the president of the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, and a member of the Old Lyme Art Colony. He did many paintings of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

's snowy streets, landmarks and towering skyscrapers during winter. FIFTH AVENUE STORM

Early life

Wiggins was born on February 23, 1883, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. His father Carleton Wiggins was an accomplished artist who gave his son his first training as a painter. He attended the

Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United St ...

, the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

, and the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

Career

Wiggins often painted scenes of New York City, as evident in ''The Metropolitan Tower'' (

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, New York); ''Washington Square in Winter'' (

Richmond Art Museum The Richmond Art Museum was founded in 1898 as the Art Association of Richmond, Indiana. Artist John Elwood Bundy and author and attorney William Dudley Foulke were instrumental in the founding. Ella Bond Johnston served as president of the Ric ...

, Indiana); ''Columbia Circle, Winter'' (

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

, Washington); and ''Riverside Drive'' (1915). Wiggins painted in an

impressionistic Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

style, as may be seen especially in ''Berkshire Hills, June'' (

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

). He traveled New England painting streams, fields and woodlands capturing on canvas the various seasons of the year. He became one of the youngest members of the Old Lyme Art Colony of

Old Lyme, Connecticut Old Lyme is a coastal town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, bounded on the west by the Connecticut River, on the south by the Long Island Sound, on the east by the town of East Lyme, and on the north by the town of Lyme. The town ...

, and painted alongside his father, Carleton,

Childe Hassam Frederick Childe Hassam (; October 17, 1859 – August 27, 1935) was an American Impressionist painter, noted for his urban and coastal scenes. Along with Mary Cassatt and John Henry Twachtman, Hassam was instrumental in promulgating Impressionis ...

, and

Frank Vincent DuMond Frank Vincent DuMond (August 20, 1865 – February 6, 1951) was one of the most influential teacher-painters in 20th-century America. He was an illustrator and American Impressionism, American Impressionist painter of portraits and landscape ...

. Wiggins began teaching art in

Essex, Connecticut Essex is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population was 6,733 at the 2020 census. It is made up of three villages: Essex Village, Centerbroo ...

, in 1937. He did a portrait of President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

and gave it to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

in 1959. Wiggins served as the president of the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts. He was a member of the

, the New Haven Paint and Clay Club, and the

Lyme Art Association Lyme Art Association (LAA) is a nonprofit art organization established in 1914, with roots going back to 1902. The LAA maintains a historic art gallery located at 90 Lyme Street in the Old Lyme Historic District, Old Lyme, Connecticut. The galle ...

. He won the Flagg Prize, the Cooper Prize and the Atheneum Prize from the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts; the Harris Medal from the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

; the Turnbull Prize and the Isidor Prize from the

Salmagundi Club The Salmagundi Club, sometimes referred to as the Salmagundi Art Club, is a fine arts center founded in 1871 in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan, New York City. Since 1917, it has been located at 47 Fifth Avenue. , its membership rost ...

; and the J. Francis Murphy Memorial Prize from the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

Personal life, death and legacy

Wiggins married first Dorothy Johnson and later Dolores Gaxiola. With Dorothy he had two sons, Carleton Wiggins and Guy Arthur Wiggins, and a daughter, Dorothy Gibson. Wiggins resided in

, and wintered in

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spani ...

. Wiggins died in 1962 while on vacation in

, aged 80. His body was returned home to Connecticut and he was buried in

Old Lyme Old Lyme is a coastal town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, bounded on the west by the Connecticut River, on the south by the Long Island Sound, on the east by the town of East Lyme, and on the north by the town of Lyme. The town ...

. His work can be seen in several major museums, including the

, Brooklyn Museum, and

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

. Wiggins's son, Guy Arthur Wiggins (1920-2020), a painter, married, in 1959, to Dorothy Gittinger (née) Palmer. The couple remained wed for 61 years until his death in 2020 at age 100. They had three children, all boys, including his wife's son by her previous marriage whom Wiggins adopted.

In Popular Culture

The painting "Lower Fifth Ave. During The Day" was the subject of a restoration by Julian Baumgartner on the YouTube Channel Baumgartner Restoration. The work was previously believed to be untitled, but during the restoration the true title was found painted on the verso after a layer of canvas from a previous restoration was removed. The painting "Old Trinity, New York Winter" was the subject of a segment on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

program

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...

in 2008. The owner said her father had purchased the painting in the late 1960s for $2500. An appraiser suggested the artwork would fetch between $50,000 and $80,000 at auction.

References

External links

Official Site Virtual Catalogue Raisonné the Complete Works of Guy C. Wiggins.
– Rehs Galleries' exhibition of works by Guy C. Wiggins.
Wiggins oil painting "Winter at the Plaza" in Swann Galleries Auction catalogueTwo 1920's Guy Wiggins exhibition catalogs
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiggins, Guy C. 1883 births 1962 deaths Students of Robert Henri 20th-century American painters American male painters Painters from Brooklyn Painters from Connecticut People from Old Lyme, Connecticut People from Essex, Connecticut National Academy of Design alumni National Academy of Design members 20th-century American male artists