CCMOA Recieves Gift of Enneking Paintings

Dennis, MA, September 19, 2005 - The late Professor Morris Cohen has left Cape Cod Museum of Art 32 paintings, 25 by notable American artist John Joseph Enneking, and 7 works by his son, Joseph Eliot Enneking. Professor Cohen (1911-2005) taught at MIT and is considered the father of modern materials science. He received numerous awards for his work in this country and abroad, including the National Medal of Science, given by President Carter in 1977.
“I can not overemphasize the importance of this bequest – for both the Museum and all the residents of Cape Cod and the Islands, ” said Elizabeth Ives Hunter, Executive Director of Cape Cod Museum of Art. “By leaving his collection to the Cape Cod Museum of Art, Professor Cohen was recognizing our current success in fulfilling our mission and expressing his confidence that we would continue to do so in the future.”
John Joseph Enneking’s importance lies in the fact that he is one of the first links in the chain connecting the Barbizon School and early French Impressionists to the American Impressionist movement. The quality of his work and his personal humility are demonstrated by the fact that Childe Hassam invited him to join the Group of 10 American Painters and he declined.
John Joseph Enneking (1838-1916) was born in Ohio and after service in the Civil War, studied painting in Germany at the Munich Academy. He then moved to Paris to study with León Bonnat. At that time he became friendly with Monet, Pissaro, and Millet and these friendships and painterly exchanges continued to influence his work. Returning to the United States in1877 he enjoyed a distinguished career as a painter and served as President of the Boston Art Club.
Joseph Elliot Enneking (1881-1942) studied with his father and at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with Joseph DeCamp; Frank Benson and Edmond C. Tarbell. He was an impressionist painter and, like his father, recorded the New England landscape. Unlike his father, who was well known for his early evening scenes, J. Elliot preferred to paint sun-splashed landscapes.
The Cohen collection will be on view at the museum from February 28 to May 28, 2006.

“2006 is CCMA’s 25th Anniversary. As we look back at the many special gifts that are the highlights of our permanent collection, we will also celebrate this newest outstanding gift from Professor Cohen for which we are most grateful,” said Hunter.