A Vintage Pairing
Well-known Nantucket artist G. S. Hill and wine expert and oenophile Denis Toner have put together a vintage pairing for this year’s Nantucket Wine Festival auction dinner to benefit the Nantucket Historical Association. Hill has donated an original oil on linen; Toner, a rare bottle of 1834 Madeira. Together, the painting and the wine promise to be a highlight of the auction this Saturday evening.
Harbor Life circa 1830 Nantucket
This is the second year that Hill and his wife, Judi, long time supporters of the Historical Association, have donated an original work to the benefit auction. For 2007, when deciding what to paint, the Hill’s contacted Denis Toner, founder of the Nantucket Wine Festival, and issued a challenge: if he found an historic bottle of wine, Greg Hill would create a painting to match it.
Upon hearing this what came to mind immediately was Madeira, a wine with a place in American history. Toner recalled reading about a bottle of Madeira that had recently been offered at auction, and after a bit of research found an 1834 vintage that was graciously donated by Clement and Rick Durkes.
This bottle, according to Toner, would retail for $600, “if you could find it.” He describes it as “eminently drinkable.” Though it’s more than 150 years old, the wine was kept in a cask in Maderia for most of that time and only was recently bottled for shipping.
Madeira was an often imported, frequently savored wine in America during the 1700s and 1800s. Five years before the Boston Tea Party, there was an open conflict over Madeira wine between the American colonists and the British, and Americans toasted the signing of the Declaration of Independence with Madeira. As Denis Toner stated, “it is an almost 100% certainty that people on Nantucket [in the 1830s] would be drinking Madeira…it will be a privilege to drink a bottle of wine that dates back to Nantucket’s whaling era…a real treat!”
[l to r]: Artist G.S. Hill, NHA Special Events Manager Stacey Stuart, and Nantucket Wine Festival Founder Denis Toner display the Vintage Pairing to be auctioned on Saturday.
Hill, originally told the bottle dated from 1830, immediately began the research needed to recreate an authentic Nantucket harbor scene from that time. “I did a lot of the research at the Fair Street Research Center…from old, original maps from 1827 and 1830, I got the layout of the harbor…and I found an old invoice from the church for paint, so I know what color it was at that time, and also at that time there were three windmills visible.” From decades of painting accurate scenes of historic sailing vessels, Greg Hill already knew what types of ships that would be in Nantucket Harbor in the early 1830s, “and I knew that [along the wharves] the buildings would be wood and would mostly be related to the whaling industry,” Hill added.
The painting, 24" x 36" oil on linen, is entitled Harbor Life Circa 1830 Nantucket. Painted in a palette that is itself reminiscent of the best vintages, the painting depicts the early morning activity of Nantucket when she was the whaling capital of the world.
“The NHA is such an important part of our community, and is accomplishing so many great things. Even though we are here only April through December, we are amazed at the wealth of wonderful year-round programs they are now offering,” said Judi Hill. “The NHA provides such a strong link to the island’s past, we are delighted to offer our continued support with this donation of Greg’s painting.”
“We are so grateful for this generous gift from Greg and Judi,” said Bill Tramposch, NHA executive director. “Greg is such an accomplished artist; we are honored that, for the second consecutive year, he has donated a beautiful original painting to our organization.”
The Nantucket Wine Festival’s Wine Auction Dinner will be held at the White Elephant on May 19 from 6 p.m., and will feature a Silent Auction as well as a live auction that will feature, in addition to the painting and the Madeira, large-format bottles signed by the winemaker and a variety of lifestyle items. All proceeds from the dinner, benefit the Nantucket Historical Association’s educational programs for children. A few tickets may still be available for the auction dinner; to purchase them, call 508-228-1894, Ext.117.
