When F.V. DuMond moved to New York City in 1884, he quickly found work as an illustrator at the New York Daily Graphic. Although DuMond went on to publish in Harper’s Weekly, Century and McClure’s magazines, it was not the career he wanted and so, left for Paris and the Académie Julian.
When DuMond returned to New York, he accepted a teaching position at the Art Students League and presided over ASL classes for the next fifty years. His students included a who’s who of modern American artists, including John Marin, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Norman Rockwell.
This undated oil painting comes from DuMond’s early career when he was under the influence of the late-nineteenth-century symbolists. An angler is caught in a trance, brought on by the music of three sirens, who appear from inside a nearby waterfall. The painting comes to Princeton thanks to the Otto von Kienbusch, class of 1906, who liked anything to do with angling.
For more information, see The Harmony of Nature: the Art and Life of Frank Vincent DuMond (Old Lyme, Conn.: Florence Riswold Museum, 1990). Marquand Library SA ND237.D846 F58
