Augustus Vincent Tack (American, 1870-1949) The Deposition from the Cross

Description:

Augustus Vincent Tack (American, 1870-1949)

The Deposition from the Cross. Inscribed, signed, and dated "IN MEMORIAM FAMILIAE SUA/AVGVSTVS VINCENT TACK PINXIT 1925" l.r. of center image, inscribed "POPULE MEUS QUID FECI TIBI AUT IN QUO CONTRISTAVI TE - RESPONDE MIHI" along the bottom edge of the composition. Oil on canvas, 98 1/2 x 197 1/2 in., framed. Condition: Canvas seamed in several places, surface grime.

Provenance: St. James Church in South Deerfield, Massachusetts; Douglas Auctioneers LLC, South Deerfield, Massachusetts, February 2018; purchased by the current owner from Douglas Auctioneers.

N.B. This work was Augustus Vincent Tack's first religious mural-sized painting. In the 1920s,Tack began his mural work for various government buildings and Catholic churches, including the New Parliament Building, Winnipeg, Canada (1920),and later the Nebraska State Capitol at Lincoln, Nebraska (1928). The work at hand was created for the artist's own church, St. James, in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, where Tack was a summer resident. The painting was completed in early 1925, and was subsequently pictured in Scribner's Magazine, April 1925, accompanied by a poem by Dr. John Huston Finley. The St. James church building was sold in 2018, after the St. James parish was merged with St. Stanislaus parish, also in South Deerfield, forming the Holy Family parish.

Tack's family was Roman Catholic, and Tack attended the Jesuit School St. Francis Xavier in New York City, graduating with an A.B. degree in 1890. He studied art in New York under H. Siddons Mowbray, John Twachtman, and John La Farge, and later in France at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Tack was also a noted portraitist, but he is probably best known for his mystical landscapes and abstract works on the themes of religion and creation. Duncan Phillips was a major patron, and at the time of Tack's death in 1949, the Phillips Memorial Gallery owned thirty-five paintings by the artist. (1)

1. The information in this N.B. is based upon material about St. James Parish and upon the Tack biography in AskArt as submitted by Lonnie Pierson Dunbier. (http://www.askart.com/artist_bio/Augustus_Vincent_Tack/87051/Augustus_Vincent_Tack.aspx)
Estimate $20-200

With the frame it measures 8 feet 4 inches x 17 feet.


The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of aging. Condition requests can be obtained via email (lot inquiry button) or by telephone to the appropriate gallery location (Boston/617.350.5400 or Marlborough/508.970.3000). Any condition statement given, as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Skinner Inc. shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.

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