The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 19, 2024
Winged Fortune
1878
(American, 1824–1879)
Unframed: 252 x 159.5 cm (99 3/16 x 62 13/16 in.)
Location: not on view
Description
This painting is a full-size study for one of the figures in The Discoverer, a mural that William Morris Hunt painted on the vaulted roof of the Assembly Chamber at New York's state capitol in Albany. The mural showed Christopher Columbus standing boldly in a boat facing west. Winged Fortune stood behind him, her left hand holding the rudder as her right hand spread the sail. Hope sat in the bow, Science held a navigational chart, and Faith, covering her eyes, swam blindly ahead. Hunt only had two months to paint the murals, making many preparatory studies like this one. Not long after Hunt's death, massive leakage and cracking began to destroy the murals, which he had painted directly onto the wall. Eventually, a new ceiling was added to the chamber, concealing the murals completely.- William Morris Hunt (artist's grandson), Boston; Vose Galleries, 238 Newbury Street Boston, MA; sold to CMA 10 September 1970.
- Cleveland Collects American Art of the Gilded Age. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 23-May 18, 2003).The American Renaissance 1876 - 1917. The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY (organizer) (October 13-December 30, 1979); National Collection of Fine Arts, Washington, DC (February 22-April 20, 1980); The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (May 31-August 10, 1980); Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO (September 24-November 30, 1980).Brooklyn, New York, The Brooklyn Museum, The American Renaissance 1876-1917, (13 October- 20 December 1979), cat. no. 211; traveled to Washington D. C., National Collection of Fine Arts, (22 February- 20 April 1980); San Francisco, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum (31 May - 10 August 1980); Denver, The Denver Art Museum, (24 September-20 November 1980).Year in Review: 1970. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-March 7, 1971).Sarasota Springs, New York, Hathorn Gallery, Skidmore College, American Allegorical Paintings, Drawings, and Prints, (18 April to 5 May 1968); Winged Fortune is cat. no. 12.
- {{cite web|title=Winged Fortune|url=false|author=William Morris Hunt|year=1878|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1970.54