Fairfield Art Association receives 141-year-old painting

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield Art Association recently received a painting done by a Fairfield resident 141 years ago, making it the oldest painting in the association’s collection.

The painting was done by Minnie Estelle Gantz, who was 16 years old when she completed it in 1880 while living in Fairfield. The work of art is a reproduction of a painting by a Polish artist depicting an English lord asking for the hand in marriage of a French princess on behalf of King Charles I of England.

The painting was passed down through Minnie’s family and most recently hung in the home of her granddaughter Jacqueline Anderson Harris of Corpus Christi, Texas. Jacqueline downsized and now lives with her son. She planned to bequeath the painting to another son, Rick Harris, who was a painter and metal sculptor who she thought would best appreciate it, but Rick died in an accident.

“I wondered, ‘Who’s going to have it now?’” Jacqueline said.

Jacqueline contacted Suzan Kessel of the Fairfield Art Association to see if she would be willing to take the painting and display it in its native Fairfield.

Kessel was thrilled at the prospect of receiving such a piece, which still is in good condition after 141 years and likely the oldest painting in the association’s collection. In late July, Jacqueline and her daughter, Kathleen Phillips, drove from Texas to deliver the 33-inch by 45-inch framed painting to Fairfield.

Jacqueline said she’s happy the painting is in good hands.

“I’m sad I won’t have it, but I’m glad I won’t have to worry about it anymore,” Jacqueline said.

Jacqueline has fond memories of her grandmother Minnie, who died at the age of 83 when Jacqueline was 14.

“I remember she was a religious person with a great sense of humor,” Jacqueline recalls.

A framed document accompanies the painting indicating it was painted by Minnie Estelle Gantz (Anderson) in 1880 at age 16. The document describes in detail the setting of the painting, a scene from Paris in 1625, and the people pictured. Its title is “Lord Buckingham asking the hand of Princess Henrietta Maria for King Charles I, of England.”

Jacqueline remembers this painting being hung in the house and admiring it as a little girl. She does not remember her grandmother ever speaking about it, however. Neither Jacqueline nor Kathleen know why Minnie painted it or how she would have even seen the original, done by the Polish artist Władysław (Ladislaus) Bakałowicz.

Was the artist touring through Fairfield? Did Minnie see it at an art class at Parsons College? The family is left to speculate. Jacqueline and Kathleen said they are not aware of any other paintings Minnie did during her life.

Minnie became a schoolteacher and married Simon Peter Anderson, whose family founded the New Sweden community in Jefferson County. Simon and Minnie moved to Nebraska, then California, taking the painting with them.

The oil painting was passed to their son, Harold G. Anderson of Watsonville, California, and then to Jacqueline, Harold’s niece, upon his death in 1986. It hung in her home in Texas until just last month. Kessel said she is excited to put the painting on display at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center for the public to see.

Minnie Estelle Gantz was the daughter of Jacob Gantz, who was the sheriff of Jefferson County from 1866-1872. His tombstone in Evergreen Cemetery is among the largest in the cemetery.

Jacob was a soldier during the Civil War and kept a diary. Kathleen produced a book based on his diary called “Such are the Trials: The Civil War Diaries of Jacob Gantz.” The title comes from a passage in the diary where Jacob describes losing his arm. When the doctor told him the arm would need to be amputated, Jacob wrote that, “It was hard for me, but such are the trials of war.”

Jacob’s final entry in his diary describes how he had to lie in a church while the rest of his Union regiment took the city of Selma, Alabama.

Kathleen visited Fairfield as part of her research into her great-grandfather, and learned about her family’s connection to the Gantzes from Fairfield historian and genealogist Verda Baird.

Kathleen said Iowa State University Press was interested in publishing Jacob’s diaries because he was a regular soldier, a cook in Iowa’s Fourth Cavalry. Most of the books based on diaries came from generals, so Jacob’s perspective offered something new. The book was published in 1991, which was good timing because it coincided with Ken Burns’ documentary about the Civil War.