Many of Kendall’s best paintings have disappeared into private collections, where they are untraceable. However, some can be located. Here’s a small selection of pictures in private collections. There will be many more in my book, when it is finished. For more information, please reach out to me at anne.underwood at gmail.com.
The Fairy Tale. Kendall was best known for paintings of his wife and three daughters—Elisabeth, Beatrice, and Alison. The oldest, Elisabeth, was my grandmother. She had the dubious distinction of having to pose most often for him in trees. Years later, she complained that her father chose the most uncomfortable poses.
The First Communion (left). Like many artists in the late 1800s, Kendall was drawn to Brittany, in the northwest corner of France. He went there for several summers while a student in Paris. Among the first things he saw upon arrival was a procession of young girls in beautiful lace dresses going to make their first communion. He had to paint the scene.
Sunset Cloud (below). Kendall painted this landscape on the day when his first daughter, Elisabeth, was born. His wife, the watercolorist Margaret Stickney Kendall, was said to have been more than a little miffed that he was out roaming the hillsides of Gerrish Island, Maine, rather than in attendance at her bedside. I would have been, too!
Moon at Dawn
Drying Corn Stalks. This was painted while Kendall was living in Winsted, Connecticut. The diagonal white lines are the drying corn stalks.
La Peroquette (right). Although the woman resembles Elisabeth, she is a model Kendall hired. Parrots and parokeets were very popular at the time.
Gloria (below). Kendall painted this large nude of Gloria Layton toward the end of his life, while living in Virginia. The flesh tones and drapery are superb.
The End of the Day. This beautiful painting shows Margaret reading to Elisabeth.
Image courtesy of: A.J. Kollar Fine Paintings, LLC; Seattle, Washington