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In the former Carnegie Library in Aitkin, Pamela Andell stares closely at a painting of two moonlit wolves ascending a snowy hill.
“There’s something so incredibly mesmerizing about them, about the stillness and the shadows coming in, going into maybe night, or maybe there was a full moon,” Andell says.
Renowned wildlife Artist Francis Lee Jaques likely painted “Wolves in Winter Moonlight” in the 1940s. It’s one of Andell’s favorite paintings.
Andell is the executive director of the Jaques Art Center, which has been housed in the Carnegie library since 1995, when, according to a plaque at the entrance, “it was purchased for a $1 by area citizens wanting a home for the preservation and exhibition of the work of Aitkin County artist, Francis Lee Jaques.”
“We were lucky enough to have some art-minded people that decided they were going to get together and have something art dedicated to Francis Lee Jaques,” Andell says. "Now for 30 years, we’ve been able to not only show off a wonderful exhibit that is stationary of Francis Lee Jaques, but invite artists from the community, from the county, from the region and also from other states, to exhibit here.”
On this late summer day, Andell is making preparations to celebrate the center’s 30th anniversary, which will include a Harvest Dinner Sept. 28 and the opening Sept. 12 of the “30 in 30” exhibition.
The exhibition features the work of 30 artists from around the region and country, who have shown at the center over the past three decades, including Minnesota painters Mary Pettis and Don Walvatne.
On Sept. 12, Andell says the center will also debut a new painting acquisition by Jaques.
Andell says the center’s official birthday is Dec. 8, “but that will start us off for a whole full year of promoting Francis Lee Jaques and art in our community.”
Jaques [pronounced “jay-kweez,” rhymes with sneeze, Andell says], who died in 1969, was a nationally renowned wildlife artist who painted dozens of dioramas and habitat backdrops for the Bell Museum of Natural History in Minneapolis and the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
As Andell tells it, at age 16, Jaques and his family walked from Kansas to Aitkin, where they started a farm. Soon after arrival, the young Jaques bought and ran a taxidermy shop, which Andell says was pivotal for his later work as a wildlife artist.
“He was a master of knowing all animals and their structure and their bones and everything about animals,” Andell says.
Jaques, who was a self-taught artist, also did easel paintings, like “Wolves in Winter Moonlight” and another one of Andell’s favorites, “The Cloud,” which is in the Bell Museum’s collection (the Jaques Art Center displays a large print).
Jaques also illustrated countless books, including many written by his wife, the author Florence Page Jaques, including “Canoe Country” and “Snow Shoe Country,” inspired by their time in the Boundary Waters.
Many Jaques paintings and prints are on view at the center, including two “duoramas” on loan from the Bell Museum. Duoramas include two parallel plains — a partially painted glass pane placed about a foot in front of a fully painted backdrop.
And now, the new Jaques acquisition, “Sea Birds,” a painting gifted by a collector in the state of Virginia, will join the collection.
“It looks like it was just painted,” Andell says. “It's just fresh and beautiful and captures that scene so well.”
The Jaques Art Center will host a free artist reception 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13.
English (US) ·