by Dr. Colleen Yarger, George L. Ohrstrom, Jr. Curator of Library Collections
On April 12, the National Sporting Library & Museum (NSLM) unveiled the exhibition, Honoring the Point: The Gwynne McDevitt Sporting Dog Collection. Comprising 84 works of art, including: paintings, sculpture, watercolors, prints, and even a weathervane, McDevitt’s collection is the largest bequest ever given to the NSLM. It is on view in both the Museum and the Library’s Forrest E. Mars, Sr. Exhibit Hall until September 15, 2024.
Gwynne Garbisch McDevitt (1931–2022) amassed these exquisite works over the course of her life. As her interests evolved from foxhunting to field trialing, her art collecting reflected these new vocations.
In this post, I would like to highlight—what I believe to be—the earliest of these works that came into McDevitt’s possession, Marguerite Kirmse’s Breaking into Society (1926).
An inscription on the back of the frame reads, “Gwynne Chrysler Garbisch | from Aunt Peggy & Uncle Walter Chrysler | Xmas 1938.”
From this we are able to deduce that McDevitt was seven years old when she received this print and that she held onto it for the next 84 years.
Kirmse’s work depicts five Irish Setter puppies settled down at the edge of a pond. A frog on a nearby—yet out of reach—lily pad has captured their attention. In a testament to Kirmse’s uncanny ability to express a canine’s mental state, each puppy is rendered with a different level of focus and drowsiness. It is an utterly charming composition, perfect for a young girl who loves dogs.
This handful of puppies were not a product of Kirmse’s imagination. They were portraits of a litter that belonged to C.C. (Charles Chauncey) Stillman who operated Kenridge Kennels in Cornwall, NY. In the mid-1920s, Stillman—and Kenridge Kennels—was in the public’s eye, having achieved enormous success with a champion Irish Setter, Bergniel Red Helmet.
Given his prominence in the show dog world, it makes sense that Stillman would have ordered a work such as this from Kirmse. Initially a private commission, Kirmse relates, “through the permission of Mr. Stillman I was permitted to offer a limited edition.” And it is highly likely that because of this McDevitt was able to ultimately own a copy.
As an adult, McDevitt would go onto purchase several other Kirmse works. Instead of puppies, McDevitt selected Kirmse prints depicting setters and pointers at work in the field as well as one pencil illustration that was reproduced in The Derrydale Press book, Sportsmen All (1938).
Perhaps, McDevitt’s beloved print from childhood was on her mind when she posed for this picture with Gordon Setter puppies that descended from her favorite dog, Doubledee Highland Dare. The similarities between the two compositions are striking.
Breaking into Society, the additional Kirmse works, as well as other artwork owned by McDevitt are currently on view in the Library’s Forrest E. Mars, Sr. Exhibit Hall until September 15, 2024.
Drawing Covert 