2010.02

Van Dis, Jane Ellen (Bird) 1921-2017

Donation

1940

Description of Condition: Was completely professionally restored by Kari Miller Restoration Damage Information: Was received in poor condition (very dirty and not flat)

Edna B. Hotchkiss 1888-1977 Kalamazoo Lake 1940 | watercolor on paper By the 1940s, the chain ferry scow had passed from being vital transportation to a quaint relic of earlier days. This watercolor painting depicts a loaded ferry with the Big Pavilion in the background. Hotchkiss was likely summering at Ox-Bow when this painting was executed. From about 1911 into the 1940s, Hotchkiss spent nearly every summer at a particular cottage at the Ox-Bow Summer School of Painting campus. The cottage is still known today as the Hotchkiss cottage. Collection: Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Gift of: Jane (Bird) Van Dis Accession: 2010.02

Edna Hotchkiss The Chain Ferry c. 1930s | watercolor Notes: This image is an example of work done by students while at Ox-Bow. Painters would work side by side in town and along the riverbank. In this very "loose" painting of the Kalamazoo River, Hotchkiss captures the busy, tourist life of Saugatuck. The scene is punctuated at either end by an area icon, the Chain Ferry in the foreground and the Big Pavilion in the background. These two features somewhat "contained" the downtown tourist activities. The Saugatuck chain ferry was a major form of transport for people (and horses and cars) moving back and forth from the village to the Kalamazoo River's west shore. The ferryman appears to be taking a nap, and a girl is standing near the bell that signals the ferry from one shore to the other. Very little information exists regarding Edna Hotchkiss, except that she was present at the Ox-Bow Painting School every summer from 1919 to 1940 and that one of the cottages there bears her name. Collection: Saugatuck Douglas History Center Gift of: Jane Van Dis 2010.02

Edna Hotchkiss was a local artist that painted at the Ox Bow School of Art in Saugatuck Status: Restoration Status By: Ken Kutzel