- Spectral Fine Arts Trust
Ella Rose Flood, Boz Deseo Garden, Graham Wiebe
October 5th — November 23rd, 2024
1. Ella Rose Flood, Our Generous Donor, 2024, oil on linen
Victorian pearl Charles Dickens asserts a famously transformed miser as foundational to the trust. To our benefactor, who in death gave the greatest gift of life to the museum.
2. Graham Wiebe, Our Generous Donor, 2024, aluminum foil, nails, plexiglass
3. Boz Deseo Garden, To Reconcile the Sunset, 2024, Housing intended for J.M.W. Turner’s Slave Ship (1840) and materials intended for conservation at the Boston Fine Art Museum; mahogany, metal hook, oil paint, tree resin, engraved Flamex electric lighter
John Ruskin, the first owner of Slave Ship, said of the painting: “If I were reduced to rest Turner’s immortality upon a single work, I should choose this.” [Modern Painters Vol. 1] In customary archival practice, mahogany cabinets house a variety of painting media for transport or storage. This particular cabinet will be used for the painting at the Boston Fine Art Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, after the run of this particular exhibition with the trust.
4. Graham Wiebe, To Reconcile the Sunset, 2024, aluminum foil, nails, plexiglass
5. Ella Rose Flood, Prototype of Museum Bench for Jacob Marley, 2024, oil on linen
The Phantasmal Painting Gallery of the Trust would not be possible without the damages of trustee member Jacob Marley. We honor him here.
6. Graham Wiebe, Prototype of Museum Bench for Jacob Marley, 2024, aluminum foil, nails, plexiglass
7. Ella Rose Flood and Boz Deseo Garden, Untitled (The Triumph of Restoration), 2024, oil and fumage on linen on wood, antique reading table, 80 gsm printer paper, contact cement, conservation brush, eyeshadow, charcoal, glue, ball chain, mustard seed pendant
In an attempt to expand the collection of the museum and rehabilitate brutalized objects, many artifacts including paintings must be worked on extensively through the restoration efforts of our staff. Represented in this display is the antecedent process of compiling a condition report before the painting can be processed by our conservators. This display model includes a typical burn problem, something of particular importance to Spectral Fine Arts Trust personnel. Through forthcoming restoration efforts, this painting will adorn the walls of the museum with the rest of the acquisitions as our team moves on to their next rehabilitation.
8. Boz Deseo Garden, Ruskin’s Paradise, 2024, Walnut, archival inkjet on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308
In 1844, John Ruskin received Slave Ship as a New Year’s gift from his father, who purchased the painting around Christmastime. In laudation of its transcendent beauty, Ruskin’s father set the painting in his son’s bed, where he insisted it was slept with for three days before hanging. In the midst of this dalliance, while musing on his former flame, whom he referred to as Adele, Ruskin wrote in his diary that the cold of her dismissal of his affection was, referencing his newest acquisition, comparable to the fetters of Atlantic slavery. In 1843, Ruskin embarked on writing his seminal project Modern Painters, and his personal experience with Turner’s own magnum opus served as artistic kindling for the text. However, it would be the heartbreak of learning that Adele married a French count that inspired an avoidant determination to complete the first volume of Modern Painters. This photograph depicts the park trail where Ruskin’s appeal to Adele (whose true name was Clothilde) was dismissed.
9. Graham Wiebe, Ruskin’s Paradise, 2024, aluminum foil, nails, plexiglass
Installation View
From left to right:
Graham Wiebe, To Reconcile the Sunset, 2024, aluminum foil, nails, plexiglass
Boz Deseo Garden, To Reconcile the Sunset, 2024, Housing intended for J.M.W. Turner’s Slave Ship (1840) and materials intended for conservation at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; mahogany, bass fishing hook, oil paint, tree resin, engraved Flamex electric lighter
Ella Rose Flood, Prototype of Museum Bench for Jacob Marley, 2024, oil on linen
Graham Wiebe, Prototype of Museum Bench for Jacob Marley, 2024, aluminum foil, nails, plexiglass
Flamex electric lighter, component of To Reconcile the Sunset
To Reconcile the Sunset, detail
Graham Wiebe, To Reconcile the Sunset, detail
Installation View
From left to right:
Ella Rose Flood, Prototype of Museum Bench for Jacob Marley, 2024, oil on linen
Graham Wiebe, Prototype of Museum Bench for Jacob Marley, 2024, aluminum foil, nails, plexiglass
Ella Rose Flood and Boz Deseo Garden, Untitled (The Triumph of Restoration), 2024, oil and fumage on linen on wood, antique reading table, 80 gsm printer paper, contact cement, conservation brush, eyeshadow, charcoal, glue, ball chain, mustard seed pendant
Boz Deseo Garden, Ruskin’s Paradise, 2024, Walnut, archival inkjet on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308
Graham Wiebe, Ruskin’s Paradise, 2024, aluminum foil, nails, plexiglass
Ella Rose Flood, Our Generous Donor, 2024, oil on linen
Graham Wiebe, Our Generous Donor, 2024, aluminum foil, nails, plexiglass
Boz Deseo Garden, Ruskin’s Paradise, 2024, Walnut, archival inkjet on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308
Boz Deseo Garden, Ruskin’s Paradise, 2024, Walnut, archival inkjet on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308
Graham Wiebe, Ruskin’s Paradise, 2024, aluminum foil, nails, plexiglass
Boz Deseo Garden, To Reconcile the Sunset
Ella Rose Flood and Boz Deseo Garden, Untitled (The Triumph of Restoration), 2024, detail
Ella Rose Flood and Boz Deseo Garden, Untitled (The Triumph of Restoration), 2024