Images(2)

The Front Door

Artist Henry Thomas Gulick

Period1958

MediumOil on masonite

Dimensions28.5 × 24.5 in. (72.4 × 62.2 cm)

SignedSigned lower left, "H. T. Gulick." Signed on reverse, "H. T. G. Aug. '58."

ClassificationsLandscapes & Still Life

Credit LineGift of Miss Laura Harding, 1970

Object number1994.583

DescriptionA detailed study of a four-panel front door slightly ajar with a transom light containing six glass panes above it, door casings and trim to the left and right, and a gray-painted door sill. A door knocker is depicted in the center point of the door where the stile meets the rail.
Curatorial RemarksHenry Thomas Gulick was recognized during his lifetime as the leading untutored artist in New Jersey. He began painting at the age of seventy-four after retiring as a Middletown farmer. During the eighteen years of his artistic career, he produced about 180 paintings, was accorded nine single-artist shows, and contributed to sixty-five group shows. His work, which won honors and awards frequently, was exhibited at the Montclair Art Museum, the New Jersey State Museum, the Newark Museum, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, in addition to many local and regional art organizations and galleries.NotesThe Front Door depicts the front door to the Gulick Farmhouse on Holland Road in Middletown, Monmouth County. Several black and white photographs exist of Gulick working on this painting. Priced initially at $1,500, it was the most expensive painting sold by the artist during his lifetime.

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