Rotating Art Shows at Leonardtown and Lexington Park Libraries
Are you an artist and wish you had a place to share your artwork with others? Since the Lexington Park Library Art Gallery was created by artist Candy Cummings in 2005, many amateur, student, and professional artists have displayed their artwork. Leonardtown Library added an Art Gallery in 2023. The Art Galleries are funded by the St. Mary’s County Arts Council.
Art Galleries Policy
The Lexington Park Library and Leonardtown branches have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the St. Mary’s County Arts Council for the purpose of organizing ongoing art exhibits that will enhance the Library environment for customers of all ages within the galleries and provide opportunities for local artists to display their work. Artwork may be available for purchase directly from the artist but must be available for a continuous run of two calendar months. If the artist sells a piece during the exhibition, the piece must remain in the gallery until the show ends. Installation and dismantling are the responsibility of the artist and must be coordinated with the Library Branch Manager. The Library is not responsible for any damage to or theft of the artwork. The Library carries no insurance for exhibited artwork, nor does it hire extra security for its protection. Artists interested in displaying their work should contact the Executive Director of the St. Mary’s County Arts Council at info@smcart.org.
Permanent Art at Leonardtown Library
Artist: Antonio Jacobsen (1850-1921)
Nationality: American
Date: 1915
Medium: Oil on board
Measurements: 22 x 36 inches
This painting was graciously donated to the Leonardtown Library by Skip and Lynn Lewis to share with the community. Mr. Lewis was the grandson of Captain Foxwell, and shared that the painting always hung over the mantle of the family’s home as it passed through the generations.
The Ship
The Salisbury was a four-masted schooner built in 1903 by Kelley, Spear & Co. in Bath, Maine. This ship weighed 597 tons, with a length of 167′ 7″, beam of 35′ 8″ and a depth of 12′ 3″. It was captained by Howard Webster Foxwell, a Leonardtown native, from 1907 through 1918. The schooner was purchased in 1919 by Thomas Smedsvig and had its home port and flag changed several times between Norway, Denmark, and Finland. It was lost at sea on a journey from Copenhagen, Denmark to Kotka, Finland on December 13, 1933.
The Painting
Captain Foxwell commissioned the prominent maritime painter, Antonio Jacobsen, to paint the Salisbury in 1915 when it was at port in Hoboken, New Jersey. With little more than a quick sketch and the dimensions of the schooner, Jacobsen delivered this painting to Foxwell in its current frame for a total of $50. Impressed with the work and the speed at which it was completed, Foxwell commissioned a second painting. This second painting is believed to have been donated to the County Trust Company of Maryland in Leonardtown, as a gift for the captain’s friend Allen Coad, a Maryland State Senator and president of the company. The current whereabouts of this painting are unknown.
The Artist
Antonio Jacobsen, an immigrant from Denmark, got his start in Battery Park sketching the many ships sailing in and out of New York City. During one of these sketching sessions with his companions, Jacobsen’s work was noticed by a man with the Marvin Safe Company who offered Jacobsen a job painting flower garlands on safe doors. Jacobsen turned his attention back to the sea when a customer of the Marvin Safe Company asked for a ship, in addition to the garland, on the safe door. Soon, captains, brokers, and sailors were asking him for portraits of their vessels, and Jacobsen began painting on commission full-time. Jacobsen’s career spanned more than 40 years with over 2,000 pieces cataloged by the Mariners Museum in Newport News, Virginia.
The Captain
Like many of his family members, Howard Webster Foxwell began his maritime career as an oyster buyboat captain. His father, Benjamin Foxwell, was a captain in the Oyster Navy and served as a sheriff and county commissioner in St. Mary’s County. In his tenure on the Salisbury, Captain Foxwell routinely sailed from Baltimore to Savannah, then down to the Bahamas, trading in construction materials, produce, and some luxury goods. The Salisbury was instrumental in the completion of the St. Paul’s Methodist Church – now known as the Nazarene Church – in downtown Leonardtown in 1914. Foxwell’s schooner is recorded transporting the building material needed for the church’s steeple. At the end of his career in 1918, Captain Foxwell returned to Leonardtown where he bought the Union Hotel and ran it until 1922. The home of the Foxwells, known as “Mt. Chimborazo,” is registered with the Maryland Historic Trust (SM-572).
