Art Institute of ChicagoPublic domain

Toning the Bell

Walter Shirlaw · 1874

Analyst brief

What the record supports

"Toning the Bell" is an oil on canvas painting by Walter Shirlaw, created in 1874. Measuring 101.6 × 76.2 cm (40 × 30 in.), this work is classified as a painting and is part of the Arts of the Americas department. The associated culture is listed as Munich, and the work was acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago in 1938 via the Friends of American Art Collection.

The painting's provenance traces back to Mark S. and Margaret Woodbridge McFadon Willing of Chicago by 1938, who then sold it to the Friends of American Art before its donation to the Art Institute of Chicago in the same year. "Toning the Bell" has been featured in several exhibitions, including the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, and international displays such as "VICEVERSA Geman Painters in America–American Painters in German 1813 – 1913" in Berlin in 1996.

Walter Shirlaw (1838-1909) is identified as an American artist. No nationality is specified in the provided artist authority record. The catalogue data does not contain information regarding auction prices or specific attributions beyond the artist and institution. The Art Institute of Chicago holds other works by Shirlaw, including "Self-Portrait" (1878) and "Washerwomen" (c. 1880).

Generated from the catalogue fields shown on this page. Nartmad does not assert attributions, valuations or prices that no cited source supports.

Provenance

Ownership history

Mark S. Willing (1878–1944) and Margaret Woodbridge McFadon Willing (1883–1948; also Mrs. Mark S. Willing), Chicago, by 1938; sold to the Friends of American Art, Art Institute of Chicago, 1938; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1938.

Recorded by Art Institute of Chicago.

Exhibitions

Exhibition history

Chicago, World's Columbian Exposition, May 1–Oct. 31, 1893.
Chicago, Lyon and Healy, Apr. 14–30, 1952.
Evanston, Illinois, Scott Hall, Northwestern University, Apr. 2–9, 1954.
Art Institute of Chicago, <a href="https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/6619/art-at-the-time-of-the-centennial"><em>Art at the Time of the Centennial</em></a>, June 19–Aug. 15, 1976, no cat.
Cincinnati Art Museum, Munich & American Realism in the 19th Century, Apr. 20–May 28, 1978; Milwaukee Art Center, July 13–Aug. 27, 1978; Sacramento, E.B. Crocker Art Gallery, Oct. 28–Dec. 10, 1978.
Berlin, Deutscheshistorisches Museum, VICEVERSA Geman Painters in America–American Painters in German 1813 – 1913, Sept. 19–Dec. 31, 1996.

Literature

Published references

Carolyn Kinder Carr, et al., "Revisiting the White City: American Art at the 1893 World's Fair" (University Press of New England, 1993), 317 (ill.).
Judith A. Barter, et al., American Arts at The Art Institute of Chicago: From Colonial Times to World War I (Art Institute of Chicago, 1998), 208–210, no. 96.
Susanne Böller, "Exkurs: 'The Munich Men' – Amerikanische Maler der Münchner Schule," in Es war einmal in Amerika – 300 Jahre US-amerikanische Kunst [Once Upon a Time in America: Three Centuries of American Art], eds. Barbara Schaefer and Anita Hachmann (Cologne: Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud/Wienand Verlag, 2018), 110, fig. 11 (ill.).

Comparables