David Urquhart Wilcox (American, 1874-1941) painter, illustrator, teacher, stage and theatre designer, lecturer and inventor. Wilcox was primarily known for his oil and watercolor paintings of landscapes, portraits, figurative work, Black/African American culture, western themes, genre, animal portraiture, as well as pen and ink drawings, illustrations, lithographs, WWI and graphic posters, monotypes, theatre design and stage effects. David was born on October 22, 1874 in New Haven, CT, to father Daniel Hand Wilcox (1826-1890), and mother Frances Louisa (née Ansley, 1830-1916), to a family of ten children. They lived in a magnificent home replete with pillars and picket fences on York Square in the center of town. Some sources state he was born in 1876 but that date is incorrect for this artist. David’s middle name of Urquhart came from his great-grandfather who had emigrated from the Loch Ness region of Scotland near Urquhart Castle.
Urquhart’s early education was at Hopkins Grammar School, New Haven, CT (1888-89), and he had preparatory studies at the Black Hall School for boys, Black Hall, CT (Circa 1889-1892). He graduated from Yale University School of Art in 1895 with a Bachelor of Philosophy, after which, he studied at the Art Students’ League of New York City for a short time with George Brant Bridgman (American, 1865-1943) and also with Charles Woodbury of Boston, MA. He moved to Niagara Falls, NY where he worked as a draughtsman at the Cataract Construction Company from 1895-97.
In 1897, Urquhart moved to Buffalo, NY and began working as one of the directors at his brother Francis U. Wilcox’s and William W. Wilcox’s (no relation) newly formed business called the Hygeia Ice & Refrigerating Company of Niagara Falls, where they manufactured ice and aerated waters, as well as operated a general refrigerating and cold-storage business; however the business was short-lived and within a few years they filed for dissolution of the company in the Supreme Court in Buffalo. In 1900, Urquhart won a scholarship to The Art Students’ League of Buffalo, given by the Art Students’ League of New York for the Annual Competition for Scholarships to Art Schools, where he studied with Lucius Wolcott Hitchcock (American, 1868-1942). He furthered art studies in Europe and had several trips abroad in the early 1900’s.
Around 1900, Urquhart was doing lithography, covers and interior illustrations for various newspapers and national magazines. Over 50 magazine stories were brought to life with his detailed illustrations, including;
The Century Magazine,
Scribner’s,
Everybody’s,
McClure’s, and
The Windsor Magazine. In many early illustrations and lithographs, he typically signed either ‘David Urquhart Wilcox’ or just ‘D.U. Wilcox’, later dropping the name David entirely. Just after the turn of the 20th Century, he started doing portraits and landscapes in oil, preferring the unusual Scottish name of Urquhart. He also loved sports and was a skilled golfer. In 1925, along with Ansley W. Sawyer, he won the Buffalo Country Club’s annual four-ball tournament, later illustrating two of Jack Gordon’s books,
Elements of the Golf Swing, (1929) and
Ten Commandments of the Golf Stroke, (1929).
Urquhart became a highly respected and much admired instructor during his professional career with several Buffalo fine art schools and leagues, and many of his students went on to become successful artists. From 1904-1907, Urquhart was an instructor at the Art Students’ League at the Albright Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY, which was closely associated with the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, succeeding his former teacher Lucius Hitchcock in life drawing, antique and practical illustration, and commercial design. He eventually became director of the ASL succeeding Miss Arletta “Lottie” Lothrop (American, 1859-1946). From 1904-1908, he also taught at the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy (later known as the School of Fine Arts in 1910, then the Albright Art School in 1941), while also serving on the board and their art committees. In 1910, he was persuaded by Carlton Sprague to return to the School of Fine Arts as acting director. Ten years later he was formally appointed director, thus solidifying him as the School’s first long-time director, a post which he held until 1940, all the while teaching classes each day. Over the course of his tenure, he taught life and antique drawing, illustration, painting from models, commercial design, advanced composition as well as evening sketch classes. Under his direction, the school developed from a small art institution with no affiliation to other schools, into a widely known art institute that eventually became affiliated with the University of Buffalo (UB) in 1930 as well as the State Teachers College in 1935.
Wilcox exhibited regularly with the Buffalo Society of Artists and participated in other exhibitions locally and nationwide. He had several solo shows, winning many awards over his career including; The Fellowship Prize, Buffalo Society of Artists, for painting “A Song”, which was purchased by the Art Committee of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Buffalo, NY (May, 1906); Honorable Mention at the “Thirteenth Annual Exhibition of the Buffalo Society of Artists”, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY (1907); Prizes, Buffalo Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY (1911 & 1913); and the Hengerer First Prize, Buffalo Society of Artists, 1911. National exhibitions included; The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the National Academy of Design, Art Institute of Chicago, Corcoran Gallery, and The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In addition, he also sponsored art exhibitions and gave a great deal of his time doing design work for Buffalo’s Shakespeare Tercentenary Pageant (1916), several various local festivals and musical balls, as well as stage design for local drama leagues and theatrical productions like Buffalo’s “The Thumb Box Players” in the early 1920’s.
In 1904, Urquhart married Anne (née Clinton,1875-1944), and they had two daughters; Ethel Clinton Wilcox (Dowd, 1905-1994), and Elizabeth “Betty” Hand (Mrs. Henry Reeb Schaefer, 1912-1997), both of whom went on to become accomplished artists, poets and Betty was also a talented musician. His wife Anne had previously been an English and Math teacher at Rosemary Hall girls’ school, Greenwich, CT, then later an English teacher at the Park School in Buffalo as well as an instructor of the history and appreciation of art at the Buffalo School of Fine Arts and taught classes at the State Teachers’ College. She was a member of the Business & Professional Women’s Club of Buffalo and also an honorary member of the Garret Club. The family resided at 537 Franklin St., Buffalo, NY and they maintained a summer home, the ‘Old Wilcox Homestead’ in Madison, CT. The summer home was less than a mile from Long Island Sound where the family enjoyed boating, swimming and fishing during the summer while also allowing Urquhart to focus on his painting. Wilcox stated in 1912;
“I am a resident of Madison, Conn., where I have a home and studio, and where I spend about five months of the year. Am in Buffalo during the winter at the head of the art school of the Albright Art Gallery, at which place I spend two days a week. The rest of my time is taken up with portrait and figure painting.”[0]
The private residence of his lawyer brother Ansley Wilcox, known as the “Wilcox Mansion”, located at 641 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, was made famous on September 14, 1901 when then Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took his Oath of Office after the assassination of President William McKinley at the Pan American Exposition. The mansion has had a colorful past, and more can be read on its history at trsite.org. Fortunately in 1966, after lengthy community involvement and pressure, legislation was finally passed granting the home status as a National Historic Site and funds were allocated for its purchase and restoration. The Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site opened its doors to the public on the seventieth anniversary of the inauguration, September 14, 1971. The Theodore Roosevelt Site is a unit of the National Park Service, the only NPS location in Western New York. Since its inception, the site has been managed by a local board of trustees, the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site Foundation, through a cooperative agreement with NPS.
Urquhart maintained his large sky-lighted studio at 85 North Pearl Street in Buffalo, NY, and over the course of his career, he not only painted landscapes, but became well known for painting the portraits of family members and many distinguished Buffalonians including Dr. Roswell Park, famous for founding of the Gratwick Research Laboratory (now the Roswell Park Cancer Institute), Mayor of Buffalo James Noble Adam (1906-09), Judge John R. Hazel of the U.S. District Court of Western New York, nationally known educator and naturalist, archaeologist Henry R. Howland, as well as other prominent figures. The well known portrait painting of his brother “Ansley Wilcox”, executed by Urquhart in 1929, still hangs above the Gothic Revival fireplace in the Wilcox Mansion.
In 1913,
The Illustrated Buffalo Express newspaper once stated about his portraits, “…they are founded upon fundamental characteristics and reveal a certain force and directness in expression, a straightforward simplicity devoid of any apparent art. Simplicity is one of the features of Mr. Wilcox’s success. He has never made things difficult for himself, never considered complicated motives congenial to great art or been hampered by the superstitions that traditions of art have handed down.”[1]
In an old newspaper article, Urquhart stated during his solo show at the Albright in 1926 about his famous portrait painting of the African American gentleman holding a Pekin duck titled, “Study in Black and White” (1910, owned by the Buffalo Club):
“The inspiration for this portrait, came one Thanksgiving season when I took a duck to the negro on my country place. When he lifted the white bird from the gunney sack and held it against himself the contrasts in the picture came like a flash and presented themselves as interesting enough to try to get them in action. The original duck met the Thanksgiving day doom, but a cousin of it posed for the painting and the negro was asked to register furtiveness in his eyes as though the bird had been acquired in the manner negro anecdotes describe.”[2] Urquhart had also done another portrait of the same African American gentleman for the show titled “The Preacher”, which according to the same newspaper article, showed him in ‘truer character’ and the artist explained,
“He is really a fine type of man, the exhorter that we all know about.”[2.1] In addition, Urquhart had also rendered a graphite drawing in profile, of the same gentleman which he kept pinned to the wall in his studio. Urquhart found the gentleman to be
“interesting both as a subject and a personality”[2.2] and the drawing was later reproduced as a silver bromide photo-mechanical print by the Buffalo photographer & photo-pictorialist Emil Strub (German-American, c1873-1950) circa the late 1920’s-early 30’s (The photo-mechanical print is in Permanent Collection of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY).
“Great art is timeless. To the true artist, it is a religion. To the true lover of good art, it is an anodyne which offers to offset the distractions of troubled circumstance.”[3] – Urquart Wilcox
“I have always thought of art as something to work at rather than to talk about”[4] – Urquhart Wilcox
On May 16, 1941, Urquhart died at Buffalo General Hospital after being in ill health for several months. He is buried in Hammonasset Cemetery in Madison, CT. Just after his death, Nora Lee Rohr, Art Critic for
The Buffalo Evening News, stated about Urquhart’s artwork in ‘A Tribute’ in the
News dated May 24, 1941,
“His attraction to all the phases of human nature was unquenchable and so he portrayed – with equal intensity – man, woman and child. Youth held the same fascination for him as age. Though his portraits are realistic and straight-forward, they are never photographic, never blandly flattering – he unerringly arrested, with his probing brush, the characteristics most significant of the sitter’s personality.”[5] That next month on June 4, a memorial tribute was paid to his work, personality and influence as director of the School of Fine Arts at the graduation exercises for the last class of students taught by him, held in the sculpture court of the Albright Art Gallery in Buffalo. Heartfelt tributes were paid by Dean Julian Park of the University of Buffalo College of Arts & Sciences, Seymour Knox, president of the Fine Arts Academy, Dr. Franciscus Visser’t Hooft, chairman of the Arts School committee who was chairman of the exercises, and incoming director Philip Elliott. His work can be found in many local and national museums and public collections, as well as numerous private collections.
“Ideals in art are seldom possible of attainment. Almost always the artist must compromise to meet conditions imposed.”[6] – Urquart Wilcox
Chronology:
1874- October 22, born, New Haven, CT, to father Daniel Hand Wilcox (1826-1890), and mother Frances Louisa (née Ansley, 1830-1916), to a family of ten children to including: Ansley, Marion (married Eleanor Sanchez), Eliza “Ida” Maria (Sawyer, 1855-), Elizabeth Hand (Badger), Daniel Hand, Jr., (married Bessie Hurd), Ethel Ansley (Fellows), Mabel Magahee, Katherine Meigs, Francis Urquhart and David Urquhart.
From 1888-89, Wilcox went to the Hopkins Grammar School, New Haven, CT.
Circa 1889-1892- Had preparatory studies at the Black Hall School for boys, Black Hall, CT.
1890- October 9, Urquhart’s father died and is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY.
1892-1895- Studied at Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, and took a mechanical engineering course, later graduated with a Bachelor of Philosophy, New Haven, CT.
1895- After graduation, he briefly studied at the Art Students’ League of New York City with George Brant Bridgman (American, 1865-1943) and also with Charles Woodbury of Boston, MA. He later moved to Niagara Falls, NY.
1895-97- He worked as a draughtsman at the Cataract Construction Company, Niagara Falls, NY.
1897- Urquhart moved to Buffalo, NY, and began working as one of the directors at his brother Francis U. Wilcox’s and William W. Wilcox’s (no relation) newly formed business called the Hygeia Ice & Refrigerating Company of Niagara Falls, where they manufactured ice and aerated waters, as well as operated a general refrigerating and cold-storage business, Niagara Falls, NY.
1898- March 15, David Urquhart Wilcox along with brother Francis and Spencer J. Lawrence met in the Supreme Court of Buffalo, NY, to resolve their application for voluntary dissolution of their company, the Hygeia Ice & Refrigerating Company of Niagara Falls, NY.
1900- May 16, Urquhart won a scholarship to the Art Students’ League, given by the Art Students’ League of New York for the Annual Competition for Scholarships to Art Schools.
From 1900-1904- Urquhart studied at the Art Students’ League of Buffalo with Lucius Wolcott Hitchcock (American, 1868-1942), Buffalo, NY.
Circa 1901- Furthered his art studies in Europe.
1901- June, Urquhart had seven illustrations published for the June Issue of
McClure’s Magazine for David Gray’s story “Crowninshield’s Brush”, Volume 17, Pg 194-99, which deals with a foxhunt. September 14, 1901, at the private residence of his lawyer brother Ansley Wilcox, known as the “Wilcox Mansion”, located at 641 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, was made famous when then Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took his oath of office after the assassination of President William McKinley at the Pan American Exposition (Later in 1966, legislation was passed granting the home status as a National Historic Site and allocated funds for its purchase and restoration, and after restoration work was finally completed, the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site opened its doors to the public on the seventieth anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt’s inauguration, September 14, 1971).
1902- March 10-24, exhibited, group show, “9th Annual Exhibition of the Buffalo Society of Artists”, painting of “Willow Tree”, Buffalo Library Building, Buffalo, NY. November 24-28, exhibited, solo show, collection of illustrations, Buffalo Society of Artists Rooms at the Buffalo Public Library, Buffalo, NY.
1904- July 12, married Anne (née Clinton), who was an English and Math teacher at Rosemary Hall girls school, Greenwich, CT, then later an English teacher at the Park School in Buffalo as well as an instructor of the history and appreciation of art at the Buffalo School of Fine Arts and taught classes at the State Teachers’ College. September, designed cover for
Metropolitan Magazine (Vol. 20, No. 6). November, did illustration for
St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine For Young Folks, for the poem “When Mother Reads Aloud”, by Hannah G. Fernald, Pg. 52, Volume 32, No. 1, Part I, November 1904 issue (from lithograph, 17-5/8” x 21-1/2”, verse at bottom, “The Swan carried the Prince Over the Hills and far away” 1901).
From 1904-October 1907- Urquhart began teaching at the Art Students’ League of Buffalo, which was closely associated with the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, succeeding Lucius Wolcott Hitchcock (American, 1868-1942) as instructor in life drawing, antique & practical illustration and commercial design and he later became director of the ASL succeeding Miss Arletta “Lottie” Lothrop (American, 1859-1946), Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
From 1904-1908- He also taught drawing and painting at the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy (later known as the School of Fine Arts in 1910, then called the Albright Art School in 1941), while also serving on the board and their art committees, Buffalo, NY.
1905- April 24, their first daughter Ethel Clinton Wilcox (Dowd) was born, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, group show, “Inaugural Loan Exhibition”, for the oil painting “Lyme Hillside”, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1906- May, exhibited, group show (Fellowship Prize), Buffalo Society of Artists, for painting “A Song” and purchased by the Art Committee of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Buffalo, NY. May 31-September 2, exhibited, group show, “First Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists”, Portrait of “Mrs. H.A. Bull” (No. 127), Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Summer, Urquhart and his wife spent the summer in Europe and returned in October. August 10, Urquhart’s older brother Daniel Hand, Jr., died and is also buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY. October 16-November 29, exhibited, group show, “Nineteenth Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings and Sculpture by American Artists”, for painting “A Song” (No. 330), Art Institute of Chicago, IL.
1907- May 3-20, exhibited, group show (Honorable Mention), “Thirteenth Annual Exhibition of the Buffalo Society of Artists”, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Traveled to Europe again. October, Urquhart resigned as Director from the Art Students’ League of Buffalo, NY, with Ernest G. Fosbery taking over his Life Class.
From 1908-1910- After his resignation, Urquhart spent two years at the family home in Madison, CT, devoting his time to painting and perfecting his technique, as well as spending a brief summer abroad again, and traveling around the country visiting art museums.
1908- April-May, exhibited, group show, “Fourteenth Annual Exhibition of the Buffalo Society of Artists”, genre/portrait scene “Children of Mr. & Mrs. Clinton R. Wyckoff” (standing in a field full sunshine), Gallery 13, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1909- Exhibited, group show, “The Fourth Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists”, for the painting “Portrait of My Uncle”, Gallery 12, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. April, exhibited, group show, “Fifteenth Annual Exhibition of the Buffalo Society of Artists”, Six works shown to include “Snow Clouds”, “On Tanna’s Hill”, “Harmony in Gray”, “Clearing After Storm”, “The Veil”, “Woods Witchery”, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
From 1910-1940- Taught and was head of the School of Fine Arts (later known as the Albright Art School in 1941) as Acting Director (1910-20), and as the School’s first long-time Director (1920-40), Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1910- September 15-November 15, exhibited, group show, “The Fifth Annual Exhibition Of Selected Paintings By American Artists”, painting “Black & White” (No. 258), Forest Park Art Building, The City Art Museum, St. Louis, MO.
1911- Exhibited, group show (Hengerer First Prize), Buffalo Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY. Summer, exhibited, group show, “Selected Paintings by American Artists”, for portrait painting of his “Mother”, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1912- April 20, their daughter Elizabeth “Betty” Hand Wilcox (Schaefer) was born. Urquhart and the family resided and maintained their summer home and studio for five months of the year in Madison, CT, while he taught in the winters two days a week, as head of the School of Fine Arts at the Albright Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY. Wilcox stated in 1912;
“I am a resident of Madison, Conn., where I have a home and studio, and where I spend about five months of the year. Am in Buffalo during the winter at the head of the art school of the Albright Art Gallery, at which place I spend two days a week. The rest of my time is taken up with portrait and figure painting.”[0, same as above] Was on the committee and helped with the design for the “Golden Jubilee” pageant for the Fiftieth Anniversary of The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy which accorded a fitting and deserved celebration in the form of an original Greek pageant, which took place in the Sculpture Court of the Albright Art Gallery on the evenings of November 26 and 27, Buffalo, NY.
1913- Exhibited, group show (Prize), Buffalo Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY. December 19, Urquhart had painted three reproductions of Andrea Della Robbia panels of joyous children, for decoration of The University Club Musical and Ball, Buffalo, NY.
1915- Urquhart was named the Master of the Pageant by the Buffalo Drama League, to draw up plans for the Shakespeare Tercentenary pageant in connection with Buffalo’s celebration of the Bard’s 300th Anniversary to be held next June in Delaware Park, Buffalo, NY. December 20-21, Urquhart along with assistance from fellow artists Harold Olmsted, John G. Eppendorff and Ralph Hillmann provided sketches and scenes for the “Festival of Christmas” held at the Twentieth Century Club for the Studio and Chromatic Clubs as expressed in picture scenes and music, Buffalo, NY.
1916- July 24, Urquhart’s mother Frances Louisa died and is also buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY.
1918- September 12, Urqhart registered for the WWI draft, Buffalo, NY, but never served. His WWI posters were exhibited, Washington, DC.
1919- April 13-May 7, exhibited, group show, “Art in Everyday Life” An Exhibition of Handicrafts and Industrial Arts”, original drawing for poster “The Art in Everyday Life” and the “Red Cross” poster, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. October 31-November 20, solo show, “Paintings by Urquhart Wilcox”, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1921- March 17, Urquhart gave a lecture on ‘Commercial Art’ to the Buffalo League of Advertising Women, Associated Services Building, Buffalo, NY.
1922- He did stage designs for several plays done by “The Thumb Box Players”, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1925- Summer, Wilcox designed the seal logo for
The Cue newsletter of the Buffalo Players theatre company (The seal logo featured a skull of a buffalo inside a triangle). A prominent golfer, Urquhart along with Ansley W. Sawyer, won the Buffalo Country Club’s annual four-ball tournament, Buffalo, NY.
1926- November 17-30, exhibited, solo show, “Exhibition of Paintings by Urquhart Wilcox”, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, and the show traveled to Rochester and Syracuse, NY. April-May, exhibited, group show, “20th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Art”, portrait of U.S. District Court of Western New York Judge “John R. Hazel”, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1928- February 12-28, exhibited, solo show, Town Club, 805 Delaware Ave., mostly portraits and a few landscapes to include; a portrait of his ‘Mother’, portrait “Study in Black and White” (loaned by Buffalo Club), portrait “Dr. William Burnet Wright”, portrait “Judge John R. Hazel” (loaned by U.S. District Court), portrait “Study of a Red-haired Girl”, and a landscape “The Last Road”, Buffalo, NY.
1929- Gave lecture on “Composition and the Photographer” at the “47th Annual Convention of the Photographers Association of America”, Statler Hotel, Buffalo, NY.
1933-34- December 13-January 1, exhibited, group show, “Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture from Sixteen American Cities”, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), NYC.
1936- May 27, Urqhuart’s brother Francis U. Wilcox died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Archibald B. Wheeler, Loudonville, NY, and he is buried in Castleton Cemetery, Castleton, NY.
1940- November, resigned as director of the School of Fine Arts of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, was succeeded by Philip Clarkson Elliott (American, 1903-1985), Buffalo, NY.
1941- May 16, died, after being in ill health for several months, General Hospital, Buffalo, NY, and he is buried in Hammonasset Cemetery in Madison, CT. June 4, 1941, a memorial tribute was paid to the work, personality and kindly influence of the late Urquhart Wilcox, director of the School of Fine Arts at the graduation exercises for the last class of students taught by him, with tributes paid by Dean Julian Park of the University of Buffalo College of Arts & Sciences, Seymour Knox, president of the Fine Arts Academy, Dr. Franciscus Visser’t Hooft, chairman of the Arts School committee who was chairman of the exercises, and incoming director Philip Elliott, held in the sculpture court of the Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1944- July 5, his wife Anne died at the home of her daughter Ethel in Madison, CT, where she had been living since the death of her husband Urquhart, and she is also buried in Hammonasset Cemetery, Madison, CT.
1984- June 24-September 3, exhibition, solo show, “The Art of Urquhart Wilcox, 1874-1941”, Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site Foundation, 48 paintings shown along with 23 various pencil, pen & ink, charcoal & chalk drawings, lithographs and posters, and 22 photographs of portraits (not available for exhibit, with 11 portraits unidentified), Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, Buffalo, NY.
1987- March 28-May 24, exhibited, group show, “The Wayward Muse: A Historical Survey of Painting in Buffalo”, portrait painting “Black & White” 1910, 30” x 25” (Cat. 129, loaned by the Buffalo Club), Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
1994- October 4, their daughter Ethel (Dowd) died, East Hartford, CT.
1996- Nov. 28-Dec. 18, exhibited, group show, "Bygone Buffalo: Paintings and Drawings by Early and Mid-20th Century Regionalists", Wilcox's pen & ink drawing of 'Delaware Ave, in Winter' was shown, Fanette Goldman/Carolyn Greenfield Art Gallery, Daeman College, 4380 Main St., Amherst, NY.
1997- September 22, their daughter Betty died, U.S. Consulate, Canada.
2010-2011- October 23-May 29, exhibited, group show, “Time Share: An Historic Collaboration”, Margaret L. Wendt Gallery & R. William Doolittle Gallery, Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY.
Exhibited Other: National Academy of Design, NYC; Art Institute of Chicago, IL; Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC; The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA.
Awards/Prizes: Scholarship to The Art Students’ League of Buffalo, NY, given by the Art Students’ League of New York for the Annual Competition for Scholarships to Art Schools, May 16, 1900; Fellowship Prize, Buffalo Society of Artists, for painting “A Song” and purchased by the Art Committee of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Buffalo, NY, May, 1906; Honorable Mention, “Thirteenth Annual Exhibition of the Buffalo Society of Artists”, Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, 1907; Prize, Buffalo Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY, 1911 & 1913; Hengerer First Prize, Buffalo Society of Artists, 1911.
Memberships/Associations: Buffalo Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY; The Guild of Allied Arts (Second Vice-President, 1920), Buffalo, NY; Buffalo Historical Society, Buffalo, NY; Buffalo Gold Club, Buffalo, NY; Country Club of Buffalo (Team Captain), NY; Delta Psi Fraternity, Yale University, and on the board of the
Yale Record, as well as the Varsity Banjo Club (played guitar), and played short-stop on Yale’s championship baseball team (1895), New Haven, CT.
Museum Collections: Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Painting, “A Song”, purchased by the Art Committee of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy (Fellowship Prize, Buffalo Society of Artists), Buffalo, NY, May, 1906; Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo, NY; The Buffalo History Museum, Buffalo, NY; Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo, NY; The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Buffalo, NY; Portrait of his brother “Ansley Wilcox” (American, 1856-), by Urquhart Wilcox, 1929, Ansley Wilcox Mansion (Theodore Roosevelt Inauguration Site & Museum), 641 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY; Neuberger Museum of Art, SUNY Purchase College, Purchase, NY; Smithsonian Libraries Collection, folder(s) may include exhibition announcements, newspaper and/or magazine clippings, press releases, brochures, reviews, invitations, illustrations, resumes, artist's statements, exhibition catalogs, Washington, DC.
Other Collections: The Buffalo Club, “Study in Black and White” (
AKA “Black and White”, or “Black & White”, or “Man with a Goose”) 1910, oil on canvas, 30” x 25”, Buffalo, NY; The Saturn Club, Buffalo, NY; Buffalo General Hospital, Buffalo, NY; Garret Club of Buffalo, portrait painting of “Miss Margaret Scatcherd” presented to the Club by Urquhart Wilcox, Buffalo, NY; Trinity Episcopal Church, Buffalo, NY; The Church of the Ascension, Buffalo, NY; The United States District Court, Buffalo, NY; The Futures Academy, Buffalo, NY; Nichols School, “Portrait of William Nichols, Headmaster, 1842-1907” 1908, oil on canvas, 30” x 25”, Buffalo, NY; Yale University Library, “Collection Contents: Series VII. Société Anonyme: Correspondence; Box 86, Folder 2225; Wilcox, Urquhart, 1921”; Frick Collection and Frick Art Reference Library, NYC, “Urquhart, Wilcox; artist file; study photographs and reproductions of works of art with accompanying documentation 1930?-1990 (graphic), (compiled by staff of the Museum of Modern Art, New York)”.
Posters: “Union Labor: The Bone And Sinew Of America.”, 1901, Harry J. Buck and Co., Buffalo, NY; WWI Propaganda poster, “We'll Help You to Win the War, Dad,” with War Savings Stamps., circa 1914-18, United States, William J. Tully, at head of sheet, “Dedicated to the Boy Scouts of America.”; WWI Poster, “Buffalo Orphan Asylum: They Are Looking Hopefully To You”, Matthews-Northrup Works, Buffalo, Cleveland, and New York; WWI Recruitment Poster, “Help Them To Bear Their Cross, Join Now American Red Cross”, 1918, model for the poster was Florence Golding Lewis, wife of Dr. James Lewis, and the man was Irving Williams, printed by Niagara Co., Buffalo, NY; WWI Poster, “We Keep in Touch with the Brave Ones at Home: Red Cross”, 1918, 29-1/4” x 21-1/2”; WWI Poster “America’s Bow of Promise; War Savings Stamps” 1918, 38” x 25” (also reproduced as billboard size of 21’ x 10’, model for Lady Liberty was Miss Legotie Hoover), additional main body text includes: “After the flood, the rainbow appeared in the sky, and was taken by the people as a sign that the flood was over and would not destroy the earth - So we must create a Rainbow of Victory, in order to end was for all time and endow the world with lasting peace. You can help create the Rainbow of Victory and help your Government by buying WAR SAVINGS STAMPS. Make 1918 / The Greatest Year in History”, and John F. Oshei of the New York State Committee for the stamps had delightfully stated that,
“…it is the greatest piece of poster art which the war has yet produced.”[8], Matthews-Northrup Works, Buffalo, Cleveland, and New York; Poster “Share Your Good Fortune”, for “Joint Charities and Community Fund Campaign” 1920, offset print by J. W. Clement Co., Buffalo, NY, 21 x 13 7/8 inches (gift of Carol and John Kociela).
Lithographs: “Lady Golfer” c.1900, lithograph; “When Mother Reads Aloud” 1901, verse at bottom, “The Swan carried the Prince Over the Hills and far away”), 17-5/8” x 21-1/2”, in red/orange ink, signed & dated in plate upper left, also used as the illustration for
St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine For Young Folks, for the poem by Hannah G. Fernald, Pg. 52, Volume 32, No. 1, Part I, November issue, 1904 (and also later exhibited in the show “The Art of Urquhart Wilcox, 1874-1941”, No. 16 in the show of various drawings, lithographs & posters, 1984); Untitled-‘Woman Painter’ (at a makeshift easel of overturned chair) 1901, 18-3/8” x 12-1/2”, black ink, signed & dated in plate upper right; “Lady Artist Sketching” unknown date, lithograph.
Inventions/Patents: “Boat Hull”, Patent Numbers 1,258,728 (March 12) & 1,259,572 (March 19), under the title “Bild-A-Boat”, pre-fabricated boat kit for a boy to build for small or toy boats, manufactured and sold by the Morton E. Converse Co., Wichendon, MA, 1918; “Butterfly Kite”, patent drawing, 1920; “Kite”, Patent Number 1,381,264 (June 14), 1921; “The Bend-I-Kins”, a doll house, furniture and doll (see next), a pre-fabricated house for a child to assemble, by the Embossing Company of Albany, NY, 1921; “Chair”, Patent Number 58,960 (September 6), by the Embossing Company of Albany, NY, 1921; “Table”, Patent Number 58,961 (September 6), by the Embossing Company of Albany, NY, 1921; “Doll”, Patent Number 59,051 (September 13), by the Embossing Company of Albany, NY, 1921; “Arro-Site”, an archery prism sight for adults, an attachment for a bow as an aid to long-range shooting, 1933.
Other: A very early ‘Viewer’ with glass slide in color of “The Red-haired Girl”, a painting by Urquhart Wilcox, Patented September, 1908 by unknown inventor; Untitled –‘Old African American Gentleman’, profile portrait of model for the painting “Study in Black and White” (1910, Owned by the Buffalo Club), silver bromide photo-mechanical print, by commercial photographer & photo-pictorialist Emil Strub (German-American, c1873-1950), 566 Main St., Buffalo, NY, photographer stamp on back, circa 1920’s-30’s.
For additional information on this artist or for other possible examples of his works, please visit the AskArt.com link.
(Written & compiled chronologically by Mark Strong of Meibohm Fine Arts, Inc., East Aurora, NY, meibohmfinearts.com, from sources: Too long to list here and are furnished upon request.)
