'Gilded Icons: Forgotten Treasures in the Samuel L. Parrish Collection'

To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Parrish Art Museum, the Southampton History Museum is exhibiting some forgotten treasures from the Samuel L. Parrish collection which is now owned by the Village of Southampton. The exhibition, “Gilded Icons: Forgotten Treasures in the Samuel L. Parrish Collection,” was curated by The Reverend W. Patrick Edwards, who will give a free talk at 5 p.m. during the opening reception on Saturday, March 18, from 4 to 6 p.m.

Samuel L. Parrish (1849 - 1932) was a prosperous New York City attorney who summered in Southampton. He was born into a wealthy Quaker family in Philadelphia and attended Harvard University, where he developed an interest in Italian art. After graduating, Parrish went to Italy for a year studying Classical and Renaissance art.

In 1877 he opened a successful law practice in New York. He visited friends and family in Southampton during the summer season and while there, decided to open an art museum in the village. To furnish his new museum he bought paintings in Europe, both real and fake, and copies of Classical sculpture. He soon retired and purchased the Rogers Mansion in Southampton (then on Main Street) to be his summer home. He built his museum across the street where he displayed his newly acquired collection. It opened, 125 years ago, in 1898.

A committed philanthropist, Parrish donated land and money for Southampton Hospital, funded the first paving of Southampton’s Main Street, bought a historic church then remodeled it into a public gymnasium and was a founder of the Rogers Memorial Library. He also supported the Shinnecock Summer School of Art lead by American Impressionist William Merritt Chase.

Parrish died in 1932, leaving his museum and his collection to the Village of Southampton but it soon floundered. In 1952, Rebecca Littlejohn, a civic-minded resident, became president of the Parrish Museum board. She began the overwhelming task of reviving the museum by painting it white.

Littlejohn decided the Parrish collection was out of step with modern art movements and began showing American artists who lived and worked on the South Fork. Over the years most of Parrish’s artwork collection was sold, damaged or lost. In 2012 the Parrish Art Museum moved to a new building in Water Mill. The old Parrish museum became the Southampton Arts Center showcasing contemporary artists and performers. But Samuel Parrish’s collection, out of vogue, languished in storage.

To celebrate Parrish’s legacy, the Southampton History Museum explored the collection in storage and found artwork unseen for many decades. A portion was moved to the Rogers Mansion, his former home, to exhibit both secular and religious copies of artwork made by master crafters in the 19th century.

“When walking into the exhibit room, one feels that the beautifully framed artworks look like they’ve been there forever,” said executive director Tom Edmonds. “These are, in fact, some of the very few furnishings we have at the museum that were personally selected by Samuel Parrish.”

“Gilded Icons: Forgotten Treasures in the Samuel L. Parrish Collection” is on view through December 28 at the Southampton History Museum, 17 Meeting House Lane, Southampton. The show is on view Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and admission is $10 (members and children free). For more information, visit southamptonhistory.org.