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Breaking Into Society, by Marguerite Kirmse |
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How About It?, an etching of three Sealyham
Terrier puppies and a kitten by Marguerite Kirmse |
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Waiting For You, an etching of a Smooth
Fox Terrier |
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Great Expectations, an etching of Wire Fox
Terrier puppies by Marguerite Kirmse |
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Wire Fox Terrier, an etching by Kurt Meyer |
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He heard a wild call from Nita off in the distance. |
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Rickey swam to shore, still holding on (to) Pet's
halter. |
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The old mother goose had hold of a kitten's tail. |
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His hind legs began to slip through the ladder. |
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He chased the old goose all the way to the barnyard. |
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Ch. Dragonwyck of Charing Cross, pastel
by Ewa Wiberg |
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Aberdeen and West Highland Terrier (Scottish
Terrier and Westie), an etching by J. Stewart |
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American Australian Champion Skywalker Milinia, pastel
by Ewa Wiberg |
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Harlequin Great Dane Dogs, donated by Bernard
and Francine Schwartz |
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English Mastiff, bronze by Dr. Stephen Gould |
A passion for collecting that began more than thirty years ago was evident in the large number and diversity of objects that Ottensman had acquired over the last three decades. In addition to hundreds of treasured prints, watercolors, paintings, and drawings which adorned each room of the house, was an even larger collection of porcelain figurines and ceramics, greeting cards, calendars, buttons, pins, and more!
Ottensman has been mom to a rescue Briard, Wire Fox Terriers, and Airedales and her love for each was seen in the many wonderful items that she had lovingly acquired.
Ottensman's first art purchase was a Marguerite Kirmse etching of Irish Setter puppies. Breaking Into Society depicts five curious Irish Setter puppies intrigued by a little frog sitting in a pool of water. "From there I just kept going. What was a fun hobby became a fun obsession in collecting anything that had to do with dogs," she recalls.
Kirmse was an English artist who immigrated to America and is perhaps best known for her charming etchings of dogs often portrayed in whimsical settings. However, she was also accomplished in rendering man's best friend in pastel, oil, and bronze. The Museum owns a miniature Kirmse bronze of a Scottish Terrier donated in 1996 by the Scottish Terrier Club of Greater Houston in memory of Ann Ruff.
The Ottensman gift donation includes fifteen Marguerite Kirmse prints as well as a Marguerite Kirmse pencil drawing of a Sealyham Terrier, thirty-three illustrations by Margaret S. Johnson and Helen Lossing Johnson for a children's book, a Gladys Emerson Cook pencil drawing of a Wire Fox Terrier, three etchings by the German artist, Kurt Meyer-Eberhardt, two Morgan Dennis etchings, a gouache study of a Wire Fox Terrier by H. Sandar, a drypoint by Percival Rosseau, two Diana Thorne drawings of Wire Fox Terriers, and a 1943 painting of a pointer by Allye Hutter.
Also donated to the Museum by Ottensman were two cast iron doorstops, three porcelain figurines, four ceramic plates, five cigarette cards, a pair of bronze bookends, five unique light bulbs with neon images of dogs, and twenty-three books.
Although Ottensman had to rummage through several storage tins and cardboard boxes tucked away in a niche in her living room, she was not about to let the day go by without sharing her collection of cards and calendars dating back to the turn of the last century. The Museum does not actively collect this type of ephemera, but it was an added bonus to look through the many years of styles and kinds of material published!
However, when Ottensman casually said, You might be interested in these original pen and ink drawings for the book, The Story of Rickey, she was right! This charming children's book, published in 1939, was written and lovingly illustrated by Margaret S. Johnson and Helen Lossing Johnson.
The Story of Rickey is about a three-month-old Airedale pup that comes to live on Mr. Brown's farm. Rickey quickly becomes acquainted with the barnyard critters and discovers the do's and don'ts of how to get along with a protective mother hen and her chicks, two friendly gray and white kittens, a feisty goose, a pony named Nita, and a colt named Pet.
Rickey saves the day when he rescues Pet, who is caught in deep water.
In the end, on a snowy winter night, Rickey, having proved himself a worthy companion, is allowed to sleep curled up on a rug in the warmth of a bright wood fire in Mr. and Mrs. Brown's house. He wags his tail as Mrs. Brown said, "Rickey's a fine dog!"
Interestingly, several of the illustrations have graphite annotations at the lower margin of the drawings referring to the dog in the story as Rusty, while a handful of the drawings along with the published version of the story use the name Rickey.
The Story of Rickey joins a growing collection of short stories on dogs available to visitors in the Hope A. Levy Memorial Library.
Many of the lovely works of art given by Louise Ottensman are currently on display in the Museum's permanent exhibit galleries.
The Marguerite Kirmse prints will be featured in a special exhibition on the artist to open in the fall of 2004.
A lovely pastel of an English Toy Spaniel by Marion Hanen and two charming pastels of Shih Tzus by the Australian artist Ewa Wiberg now belong to the Museum's collection of art as gift donations of Gilbert S. Kahn.
These three works of art were first loaned in 1999 for the special exhibition, Toy Dogs and Dog Toys, an exhibit presented in honor of one of the Museum's past presidents, Hope A. Levy. "I felt it was time they belonged to the Museum permanently," said Kahn.
The portraits of Ch. Dragonwyck of Charing Cross and American Australian Champion Skywalker Milinia are currently on display in the lower level galleries while the pastel of the English Toy Spaniel is on exhibit in the lower level rotunda.
Great Dane fanciers will be delighted by the gift donation of two exquisite large-scale porcelains of harlequin Great Dane dogs graciously donated by Bernard and Francine Schwartz of Lake Forest, Illinois. Although the Museum's permanent collection of art includes an impressive number of smaller ceramic figurines, the two large Great Danes are the first such porcelains of their type to be received as gift donations. "They sat side by side in our home for thirty years," recalls Mr. Schwartz. "Now they belong to the Museum."
The pair of Great Danes, male and female, affectionately referred to as Lancer and Timba respectively by the Schwartz family, are identified as white paste porcelain figures. Signed on the reverse, Hispania porcelain, Spain, they are dated ca 1960.
An English Mastiff sculpture in bronze by the late Dr. Stephen Gould of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida was donated to the Museum by Dr. Gould's daughter Phyllis J. Miller of La Jolla, California. Dr. Gould's work is represented in numerous collections including the Newark Museum in New Jersey, Miami Museum of Modern Art, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Maryland, and the Allen R. Hite Art Institute.
The artist's bronze figure of an English Mastiff stands 14 inches tall. This lovely work of art greets visitors in the Museum's main level hallway.
