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!
The Green Lamp, private collection 
Penelope, National Gallery of Art 
Woman Sewing 
The Debutante 
At Home (Winged Victory) 
The Open Door 
The Open Fire 
Nellie Kabel, private collection 
Mrs. Gari Melchers, Detroit Athletic Club 
Room Full of Color, private collection 
Interior: Mother and Child 
Woman Reading
~ Michelle Crow-Dolby, Education and Communications Manager, Gari Melchers Home & Studio
Kirk Darrough says
May 22, 2020 at 9:42 pmAn interesting and important observation and explanation concerning Gari Melchers and one of his
favorite backgrounds – the rose wallpaper in the Hitchcock home. Well done, as always!
P.J Zwart EaZ says
May 25, 2020 at 2:29 amInteresting, funny somehow, to see “how things work”…
Thank you.
Michelle Crow-Dolby says
May 27, 2020 at 8:26 pmIndeed, love the tidbits of information our archival collection provides.