New Haven Independent

That’s not the plot for a novel. It’s actually the story of how a lost portrait of Short Beach’s own Ella Wheeler Wilcox was discovered in a storage room of the Blackstone Memorial Library and is now hanging in a place of prominence at the New Britain Museum of American Art.

The 1899 painting is valuable not only for its subject — Ella was an internationally famed poet and writer who lived in Short Beach — but also because the artist, Lilly Martin Spencer, is said to be the first major American female painter.

Ella, the “Poetess of Passion,” is known for the lines from her poem Solitude, “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.” She lived in Short Beach in a house overlooking Granite Bay from 1891 until her death at age 64 in 1916.

The story of the portrait and the correlation between the two creative women was the subject of a recent talk by Fred Biamonte, a psychobiographer who delves into the lives and psyches of artists.

Biamonte, who lives in Branford and lectures at the New Britain Museum, negotiated a two-year loan of the painting to the museum.

But the path from the library to the museum was circuitous. Like any good mystery, some portions remain unknown. Indeed, if any readers can fill in the blanks, please let the Branford Eagle know.

The painting was apparently in and out of storage and resurfaced at least twice in the last 25 years. It was eventually restored in 2003, but library officials could not agree on the best place to display the painting until last year when Biamonte suggested the museum.

The story of its discovery begins in the 1980’s when former library director Joan Armstrong was sorting through a closet on the upper floor of the library.

“I found it in an old storage area when I was cleaning things out,” Armstrong recalled. “I don’t know how it came to the library; I assume it was a gift. At one time the library did collect paintings for a small museum upstairs where the children’s area is now.”

Armstrong, who lives in Short Beach, had seen many photos of Ella and recognized the poet’s portrait. “I was so pleased to see it,” Armstrong said, adding that she didn’t know the painting was famous or that it was listed as missing. “I didn’t realize people were looking for it.”

She hung the painting at the library, but doesn’t know what became of it after she took an early retirement in 1986. She speculates it may have been put in storage when the library was renovated.

The next time Armstrong saw the painting was during a lecture at the library in 2002 when author Ed Ifkovic spoke about his book, Ella Moon, a novel based on Ella’s life. “It came to light again,” Armstrong said of the painting. “Luckily the Friends took it under their wings.”

“It’s really quite a story,” said Richmond Browne, a former president of the Friends of the Blackstone Library. He had the painting appraised and discovered it was worth an estimated $50,000. The Friends paid to have it professionally restored and reframed in 2003.

Then came discussions about where it should be displayed.

“There’s really no place to hang it in the library,” Browne said. “I’m very happy with it at the museum. “It will be much safer and better cared for in terms of physical environment and it will be seen by so many more people.”

Alice Lambert, a long-time president of the Friends who preceded Browne is office, felt the library was the perfect place for the painting. “I wanted to hang it in the hall outside the auditorium,” she said, but joked it was the only time she didn’t get her way.

“It’s such a beautiful painting,” Lambert said. “She was a very unique person.”

Kathy Rieger, the director of the Blackstone Memorial Library, said that the Friends and the Board of Trustees had meetings to discuss what to do with the painting, but couldn’t reach a decision. “There was not a lot of agreement about what should be done with it,” she recalled.

So the painting was kept under wraps until Biamonte suggested it be loaned to the museum, since there is another Lilly Martin Spencer painting on display there.

Polly Fitz, the current president of the Friends, said the museum was a good choice. “The Trustees made the decision for the painting to go to the museum,” she said. “And the Friends were very supportive.”

During a reception last fall, museum director Douglas Hyland talked about the significance of the portrait and displayed a book from the Smithsonian Institute that listed the painting as having an unknown location.

“We answered the mystery the Smithsonian had about the painting,” Rieger said. “I think it’s in the right place, at least for now,” adding that the museum is “a jewel for Connecticut.” The painting is on loan for another year and a half.

In the meantime, Biamonte (pictured) enjoys lecturing about the two women and their creative passions. “Lilly was a very popular painter but considered by some critics as mediocre,” Biamonte said, making a contrast to Ella, who was often ill-treated by literary critics. “It’s kind of interesting that we have two very popular women, who were not critically acclaimed.”

Lilly, who lived from 1822 to 1901, gave birth to 13 children, seven of whom survived infancy. Her husband may have been one of the first stay-at-home dads. “He felt her career was more important,” Biamonte said. “She supported her husband and family with her painting.”

Lilly was known for her genre art of “everyday life,” often depicting women and families.

There is no known documentation about how or why Ella commissioned the portrait, but Biamonte quoted a letter from Ella to Lilly discussing a time for the two to meet. The portrait is believed to have been painted in 1899. Lilly died working at her easel in 1901.

Ella, who was born in Wisconsin in 1855, began writing at a very early age and sold her first poem at age 15. Her works were published in major newspapers and magazines including Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal and Cosmopolitan. She authored about 70 books and was commissioned to travel to England to write a poem in commemoration of Queen Victoria’s death.

One of her books, titled “Poems of Passion,” brought notoriety because of its title and content. “The term ‘poems of passion’ offended people of that era,” Biamonte said, with critics claiming it was “obscene.” The book, despite or because of its controversy, became very popular.

She married Meriden businessman Robert Wilcox. Their only child, a son, died a few hours after birth. The couple moved to Short Beach in 1891 where they built a cottage and a home. “They had a great relationship throughout their marriage,” Baimonte said.

Ella and her husband entertained lavishly at their Short Beach home. “She made Short Beach the center of literary life,” Biamonte said.

Robert died in 1916. Two years later, Ella became ill while in Europe reading poetry to soldiers injured in World War I. She returned to Short Beach and later died there. Her body was cremated and her ashes were combined with her husband’s and interred near their home in Short Beach.

The New York Times obituary spoke of the popularity of her writings: “Although Ella Wheeler Wilcox never attained the heights of poetry, probably no writer of verse was so prolific in composition and few have equaled her hold upon a large number of readers.”

Branford Town Historian Jane Bouley and Short Beach resident and writer Pam Knapp wrote an extensive article about Ella, which can be accessed through the Branford Historical Society’s Web site.

In the article, Bouley and Knapp discuss the poet’s literary and personal life, and include several photographs. They also detail how Ella founded a celebration in Short Beach known as Illumination Days, which have been recreated in recent years over Labor Day weekend.

Bouley was pleased that the painting was located. “I don’t think we’ve ever discovered who donated it to the library,” she said, but added that some of the poet’s personal possessions were sold at auction after her death.

Armstrong, who unearthed the portrait in the 1980s, has mixed feelings about the portrait’s current location.

“It really looks lovely now,” Armstrong said in regard to the museum display. “Where it’s handing in the museum is impressive, but I still wish it were hanging in the library because she’s so well known here.”

She enjoyed listening to Biamonte’s recent lecture at the library. “The juxtaposition of these two women is so interesting,” Armstrong said. “Between the two people involved, it’s a unique piece of work. It’s not just Ella Wheeler Wilcox, it’s the artist too. Putting them both together made the piece more valuable.”

The New Britain Museum of American Art, opened in 1903 as the first museum dedicated strictly to American art. Its director, Douglas Hyland, said it’s a pleasure to display the portrait of Ella.

“Lilly Martin Spencer was a remarkable woman,” Hyland said. “It could be argued that she was the first real professional woman artist in this country,” since she made a commercial career of her art. “I think it’s very fitting we would have one of the country’s most successful late 19th - early 20th-century poets represented as a long-term loan here in this great portrait.”

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