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HVVACC Exhibits

Linking Collections, Building Connections

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Jane Byrd McCall Whitehead
Foxgloves, n.d.
Watercolor
8 7/8 x 5 1/4 in.
WBG; gift of Jill and Mark Willcox, Jr.
WBG 2003.001.0015
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Edward (Ned) Thatcher (attributed)
Hinge, 1903-1904
Iron
5 2/8 x 3 1/2 in.
WBG
WBG 2010.002
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John Duncan
St. Francis, ca. 1904
Plaster relief
6 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 3/8 in.
WBG; gift of Douglas C. James Charitable Trust
WBG 2003.004.022

The Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild was founded by an aristocratic couple, Ralph and Jane Whitehead, whose aim was to share their wealth with a community of artists who would work collaboratively to produce furniture, textiles, and metalwork. They built multiple studios, spread out over their rustic property in Woodstock, NY. John Duncan was predominantly a painter, who was invited to Byrdcliffe to help create a printmaking studio, although these efforts were ultimately put aside. The model for the figure of St. Francis here is believed to have been Vivian Bevans, Hervey White’s wife for a brief period. Edward “Ned” Thatcher was a metalworker in residence at Byrdcliffe for many years, starting in 1903. 

Today, Byrdcliffe’s residency program invites over 70 artists annually to stay for 3 week periods, where they are given housing and a studio and participate in work shares and open studios.