Walking into the Edgartown Library, books, DVDs and other traditional resources fill the shelves. But above the books are paintings akin to those found in an art museum or gallery. Many of them are encased in ornate frames portraying various nature scenes. The paintings are part of an art collection bequeathed to the town of Edgartown in the 1930s by Charles Simpson.
Mr. Simpson was born in Edgartown in 1858 and became a prominent businessman and art collector. He worked in the grocery business as a traveling salesman, and was known as a trailblazer in the cracker business. He started the Snell Biscuit Co, which was eventually bought out by the company now known as Nabisco.
When he died in 1932, Mr. Simpson left 38 paintings and 150 lithographs and sketches to the Town, insisting they be displayed in a public space for all to enjoy.
He wrote: “Within two years from the allowance of this will [Edgartown shall] provide a place and method of exhibiting said pictures on public view, free of charge, for the pleasure and education of the people of Edgartown, and those who may visit said Town.”
Edgartown placed the exhibit in the care of the library, where they have been displayed ever since.
Nis Kildegaard, former Edgartown Public Library reference librarian, noted the rarity of the accessibility of this caliber of art.
“I don’t know of an equivalent story in another town,” Mr. Kildegaard said.
Works done by Charles Harold Davis, Franklin P. Brownell and Harry Aikin Vincent are part of the rotation of art showcased at the library. The paintings capture various scenes, from harbors and fields depicted in different seasons, to the occasional still-life painting.
When the new library opened in 2016, David Hannon helped lay out the pieces. In the previous library space, located in the Carnegie building on Water street, there wasn’t as much space to display the artwork.
“Everything was low ceilings, everything was crammed,” Mr. Hannon said. “So it wasn’t able to be displayed in the way that it could breathe and that people could see it.”
When the old library was shut down in 2007 due to a burst furnace, the paintings were cleaned by a conservator.
“It got cleaned of old lacquer and grime from 100 years,” Mr. Hannon said.
At the circulation desk, there is a pamphlet that guides visitors through the library, describing the pieces on display and the artists. The tour begins at the main desk and travels to every area of the library. Along the way, one also encounters more recent art, in particular a maritime mural in the children’s room done by Margot Datz.
“Margot spent a year doing this whole children’s mural, and that was an experience because it happened in real time with children coming in,” Mr. Kildegaard said. “Every single sea creature in the mural is a real creature that she got from books.”
Mr. Kildegaard said his favorite part of the Simpson collection is a set of paintings hanging behind the main circulation desk. It depicts three cloud landscapes painted by Charles Davis.
“Sometimes people come in and ask about them and artists come in and ask ‘do you realize what you have here,’ and that’s always fun,” Mr. Kildegaard said. “It’s just a great statement to have those [displayed there].”
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