Collections record Beta

Oil Painting - "Congregational Church"

2012-46-1

Oil on canvas painting of a view of the Congregational Church in Litchfield, Connecticut. In the foreground are three trees. On the left side of the canvas is a large white church with two houses to the right. A man can be seen entering the church, with a lady following behind. Another figure of a man is seen on the opposite side of the canvas between the two houses.

This view of Litchfield in the early nineteenth century was a favorite of Adelaide Deming's. Three examples of the scene are in the collection of the Litchfield Historical Society, including an over-mantel painting (1987-01-0) that hung in the Julius Deming house on North Street and a study for the same (2019-105-2). It is possible that this painting is either a second study or version done for Deming's personal collection. While the painting was executed around 1920, it does not depict Litchfield as it appeared at the time. The artist altered the placement of the buildings to suit her creative vision.

Adelaide Deming was an artist and educator working largely in New York, although she kept a residence in Litchfield. She studied at the Art Students League and with artists like William Merritt Chase. She taught at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn from 1902 to 1910. Deming was a member of the Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, the Paint and Clay Club of New Haven, the Kent Art Association, the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, and the American Watercolor Society.

• Deming, Adelaide, 1864-1956

c.1920

Framed: Height 28 1/2", Width 36 1/2"

• oil
• canvas