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Vaughn Flannery photograph album of paintings

 Collection
Identifier: PP 0331

Abstract

Vaughn Flannery was a Maryland-based artist who specialized in painting racehorses and the behind-the-scenes activities at racetracks and breeding farms. This photograph album consists of eighty-two black and white photographs of Flannery’s paintings and includes depictions of Pimlico Race Course and Sagamore Farm in Maryland.

Dates

  • undated

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

The reproduction of materials in this collection may be subject to copyright restrictions. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine and satisfy copyright clearances or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections. For more information visit the MCHC’s Rights and Permissions page.

Biographical Note

Vaughn Flannery (1898-1955) was a Maryland-based artist who specialized in painting racehorses and life behind the scenes at racetracks and breeding farms. As a prominent portraitist of equines, he received commissions from prestigious owners and breeders such as Alfred G. Vanderbilt and the Whitney family of New York. Flannery created vivid oil paintings of notable racehorses, including Man o’ War, Discovery, Questionnaire, and Shut Out.

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Flannery’s love of both art and horses was established early in life by his mother, an amateur artist. After studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, Flannery pursued a career in advertising and became Head Art Director at N.W. Ayers and Son Inc. in Philadelphia as well as at Young & Rubicam in New York City. In 1941, he retired to Darlington, Harford County, Maryland in order to devote his time to painting and breeding racehorses as the owner of Cockade Farms. During his time in Darlington, Flannery also published the Harford Gazette and became an officer in the Maryland Jockey Club. He remained in Maryland until his death in 1955.

Unique for the time, Flannery preferred to paint his subjects in their natural surroundings as opposed to having them formally posed. His portraits captured horses in the midst of their daily activities, such as being turned out in a field, loaded onto a van, or cooling down after a workout. Flannery was also a staple on the back stretches of Belmont Park, Saratoga Race Course, and Pimlico Race Course, mingling with the owners, trainers, jockeys, and grooms. Much of his artwork also depicts this insider’s view of life behind the spotlight of the racetrack. Although the majority of Flannery’s paintings are in private collections, some of his artwork has made it into the collections of the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of Modern Art, and the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In 1959, The Baltimore Museum of Art held a memorial exhibit of Flannery’s work featuring twirty-one of his paintings created from 1930 to 1955 and two of his paintings—The Maryland Hunt Cup and Kelly’s Barn—are in its permanent collections.

Extent

1.5 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

The photographs remain in their original album and have been given sequential object identifiers.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of David F. Woods, December 2017.

Related Materials

Print of "Daybreak, Old Pimlico" located in:

Medium Prints: Horse Racing—Race Tracks—Pimlico—Vaughn Flannery

Bibliography

  • “Flannery Paintings to be Exhibited at Baltimore Museum.” The Aegis [Bel Air, MD], 24 September 1959.
  • “Flannery Memorial Exhibit Scheduled at Museum.” The Evening Sun [Baltimore, MD], 21 September 1959.
  • “Vaughn Flannery.” askART, http://www.askart.com/artist_bio/Vaughn_Flannery/17755/Vaughn_Flannery.aspx. Accessed 2 January 2019.

Processing Information

The majority of photographs include written captions on the album page identifying the title of the painting. Research indicated that these captions are not always accurate. Therefore, the correct title of each painting is listed in the Container List and it's noted when a caption is incomplete or incorrect.

Scope and Contents

The Vaughn Flannery photograph album of paintings contains eighty-two 7 ¼ x 10 black and white photographs of Flannery’s artwork as well as six clippings with images of his paintings. It is unknown who created the album or when the photographs of the paintings were taken. Dates recorded in the Container List refer to the date associated with the original painting—for the most part, though, Flannery rarely dated his paintings. The topics depicted in these paintings are primarily of racehorses and the behind-the-scenes activities at racetracks and breeding farms. There are several portraits of the famous racehorse Man o’ War with his groom, Will Harbut, during his stud career at Faraway Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. There are also scenes of jockeys, grooms, and trainers performing their daily work at locations such as Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland; Greentree Stable, Saratoga Race Course, and Belmont Park in New York; and Sagamore Farm in Baltimore County, Maryland.

Of significant note is that this album contains photographs of six paintings that hung in the Old Clubhouse at Pimlico, which were lost in the 1966 fire that destroyed the building: Daybreak, Old Pimlico; Repainting the Weather-vane, Pimlico; Displaying the Preakness Vase, Old Clubhouse, Pimlico; Jackpot’s Boy, Pimlico Jockey Room; Old Clubhouse Dining Room, Pimlico; and Unpacking the Colors, Pimlico.

Title
Guide to the Vaughn Flannery photograph album of paintings
Status
Under Revision
Author
Sandra Glascock
Date
2019-01
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the H. Furlong Baldwin Library Repository

Contact:
H. Furlong Baldwin Library
Maryland Center for History and Culture
610 Park Avenue
Baltimore MD 21201 United States
4106853750