Wonderful Wallpaper

Whenever American artist Gari Melchers (1860-1932) found something he thought especially aesthetically pleasing, he tended to incorporate it in his work over and over again. Whether a favorite patterned cape, a particular dress, or a special chair or vase, they appeared in his paintings on numerous occasions. This was true for models as well (more on that in a future blog post).

One element that he added to the background of more than 10 paintings is a colorful floral patterned wallpaper. Melchers used this motif to embellish otherwise white walls in a series of light-infused interior genre scenes painted in the early 1900s shortly after his marriage to his wife, Corinne. The setting was a parlor in a home called Schuylenburg near Egmond aan den Hoef, Holland. The house and its richly appointed interior belonged to friends George and Henriette Hitchcock.

These cozy scenes of upper class domestic bliss were no doubt enlivened by the pink rose wallpaper, a sample of which we are lucky enough to have in our collection.

Here are the paintings!

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~ Michelle Crow-Dolby, Education and Communications Manager, Gari Melchers Home & Studio