The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

The Ghost Story

The Ghost Story

1887
(American, 1860–1943)
Unframed: 121 x 191.5 cm (47 5/8 x 75 3/8 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

This picture depicts a prosperous peasant's dwelling, where the women of the house have gathered to spin and prepare food. McEwen showed the narration of a ghost story at its most dramatic moment—all eyes are fixed on the storyteller, the spinning wheels are idle, the listeners lean toward her in fascination, and the little girl clutches her doll in fear. When this work was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1888 and at the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition, it won praise for both its technical approach and for capturing the essential qualities of the Dutch people. Walter McEwen settled in Holland around 1883, setting up a studio in the village of Hattem. At this time, Holland had a growing reputation among foreign artists, and a large number of American painters had moved there in order to observe local customs, scenery, and costumes, and to study 17th-century Dutch painting. Many of these Americans looked to the work of the German painters in Holland and mimicked their brighter palette, clear forms, and bright interiors, which were often achieved by painting a scene in front of a window, as McEwen did here.
  • Mrs. Edward S. Harkness.
  • "The Ghost Story by Walter McEwen." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 10, no. 7 (July, 1923): 123-130. Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 124-125
    Boller, Susanne. "The Munich Men - Amerikanische Maler der Munchner Schule." In Es war einmal in Amerika: 300 Jahre US-Amerikanische Kunst. Barbara Schaefer and Anita Hachmann. Köln: Wienand Verlag : Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, 2018. Reproduced: p. 109. Abb. 8
    Barendse, Linda. De Schilders Langs de IJssel. Zwolle: WBOOKS, 2019. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 78, afb. 67
    Naeem, Asma. Out of Earshot: Sound, Technology, and Power in American Art, 1860-1900. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2020. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 148, fig. 60
  • Supernatural America: The Paranormal in American Art. The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (June 12-September 5, 2021); Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY (October 7, 2021-January 2, 2022); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (organizer) (February 19-May 15, 2022).
    Dutch Utopia: American Artists in Holland, 1880-1914. Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, GA (organizer) (September 26, 2009-January 3, 2010).
    Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, GA (9/26/2009 - 1/3/2010): "Dutch Utopia: American Artists in Holland, 1880-1914", ex. cat. no. 34, p. 148-149.
    Philadelphia, PA, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Paris 1889: American Artists at the Universal Exposition (25 January - 15 April 1990), p. 182-3, no. 203, p. 285, color ill. p. 184.
    Detroit, MI, Detroit Institute of Arts, The Quest for Unity: American Art Between World’s Fairs, 1876-1893 (22 August - 30 October 1983), no. 150.
    Cleveland, OH, East Cleveland Public Library (14 March - 27 April 1978).
    Paris, Le Salon de 1888 (1888), p. 28-9, ill. p. 28.
    Paris, Universal Exposition, (1889) cat. no. 203; catalogue reproduced in Paris 1889: American Artists at the Universal Exposition listed and illus. p. 285; painting won the Silver Medal (Deuxième Medaille).
    Paris 1889 states page 182-183 that this work was exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1890, but no records from the AIC can be found to confirm this.
    Chicago, IL, United States, Gallery 9, Oil Paintings, Fine Arts Palace, World’s Columbian Exposition (1893); listed cat. no. 801, p. 59 as Telling Ghost Stories.
    Antwerp, Universal Exposition (1894); painting won Medaille d’Honneur.
    Miliken’s July 1923 Bulletin article notes that with this painting, MacEwen was Hors Concours at Paris, 1890.
    Vienna, International Exposition, (1902); painting won Grande Medaille d’Or .
  • {{cite web|title=The Ghost Story|url=false|author=Walter MacEwen|year=1887|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1923.416