Cowgill paintings staying put at museum

A before-and-after view shows the difference made by a 2021 restoration of one of six paintings by Elisha Cowgill the Putnam County Commissioners have had loaned to the Putnam County Museum since 2018. The restoration efforts were spearheaded by museum board member Gwen Morris, who successfully advocated this week for the loan to continue. This particular piece, a landscape of the second Putnam County Courthouse, hung in the Putnam County Auditor's Office for decades prior to the loan.

Courtesy photos

Six antique paintings by a local artist and county official of the early 20th century will stay in the hands of the Putnam County Museum, where they’ve been for the last six years.

Having recently indicated their intent to request the paintings by Elisha Cowgill returned after a loan to the museum, the Putnam County Commissioners reversed course Monday morning.

Instead, prints will be made and framed for display in their old spots at the Putnam County Courthouse with the originals remaining on display at the museum at 1105 N. Jackson St., Greencastle.

Having been approached by officials within the courthouse about returning the paintings, the commissioners broached the issue during their second July meeting, with both President David Berry and Tom Helmer indicating an intent to bring the paintings back to the courthouse, where they hung for the better part of a century.

In response, several board members of the Putnam County Museum were in attendance on Monday, led by Gwen Morris, who originally requested the loan of artwork back in 2018 and spearheaded an effort to have them successfully restored.

“I’m here to see if you would reconsider the move of the Cowgill paintings back to the courthouse,” Morris said. “If the Cowgill paintings are kept at the museum, the public would have a deeper knowledge of the history of Putnam County. They will appreciate the artwork and lastly the conserving process.”

The effort to have the paintings restored has, indeed, been significant. Not only are colors brighter following their restoration by Radecki Fine Art Conservation of South Bend, in some of the paintings, details have emerged that were previously lost to years of aging.

Morris went on to note her belief the public would have more access to the paintings at the museum, which is open on weekend and where they are stored as a single collection.

“As a collection, the public would have a better understanding of Cowgill’s work,” Morris said.

On display at the Putnam County Courthouse for about a century, three of the most-known works of Elisha Cowgill are actually of the building’s two predecessors. The first Putnam County Courthouse (top left) must have been painted from the memories of Cowgill or others. Meanwhile, Cowgill painted two perspectives of the second courthouse and would have been intimately familiar with the building, as he served in it as Putnam County clerk, as well as deputy recorder and even practiced law briefly.

Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN

However, the return of the paintings has at least one supporter outside the courthouse in the form of Wes Wilson. The retired DePauw University archivist countered that the Putnam County Courthouse sees more visitors than the museum.

“Most residents of the county visit the courthouse at one time or another, such as to pay taxes, register to vote or vote, and other business that requires a county office. Even to attend a board of commissioners meeting,” Wilson said. “While visiting, they have a chance to see the paintings.

“The paintings were loaned to the Putnam County Museum for an exhibit and later for restoration. They were not given to the museum.”

Morris also made points about standards for temperature, relative humidity and light levels needed for properly conserving the paintings, but Wilson countered that these were all met at the courthouse.

The matter of security was also addressed by both Morris and Wilson, with Wilson saying security is actually better at the courthouse with the court deputies in place than at the museum.

Unfortunately, there is a track record of paintings going missing from the courthouse.

“In the 87 years these paintings have been in the courthouse, three have gone missing,” Morris said. “As we elected new officials, decisions have been made to take down the artwork and place it in closets or wherever. Frames might have been broken or damaged. Who knows, but valuable pieces of history have disappeared. This is no one’s fault, but with the transitions of our elected officials, paintings have disappeared. In the museum, they are cataloged and taken care of by knowledgeable people, trained in conserving history.”

Wilson noted that in the courthouse, the six paintings can be considered public art, noting that this practice is “a popular, common and growing area of the arts.”

“No longer is it necessary to visit a museum to see fine and historical art,” Wilson said. “County and federal courthouses all over the country are displaying art like the Elisha Cowgill paintings.”

Wilson went on to cite a number of examples of public art from around the country and suggest that brochures might be on hand as a guide for the public to the three paintings in the Recorder’s Office, two in the Auditor’s Office and one in the third-floor lobby.

Museum board member John Zeiner noticed that this sounded like a good idea, but for the time being, no such program is in place.

“I’ve been around the Putnam County Courthouse for a number of years,” the veteran attorney said, “and I’ve recently joined the board of the museum. Art can be good for courthouses, but this is not what has been done here for a number of years. That’s not what has been done because you didn’t have a program.

“If you want to start a program, that is good, but in the meantime I think the Putnam County Museum is the appropriate place for this art at this time.”

The paintings originally came to be in the museum because, in addition to being an artist, Cowgill (1835-1914) was an official in both the city and county and an attorney.

After some deliberation, Helmer ultimately made the motion that the paintings be kept at the museum but that replicas be made for display in their old spots at the courthouse. Berry briefly flirted with the idea of doing the opposite – having replicas on display at the museum – before seconding Helmer’s motion.

Rick Woodall, who said he could see both sides and that it was “not his forte,” did not vote.

The commissioners will also devote up to $1,500 from the cumulative courthouse fund to make and frame the replicas.

Additionally, the agreement can be revisited in the future with a 2-4-year renewal on the contract.

While the originals will remain in the entryway of the museum, the replicas will be hung in place of the originals in the courthouse.

• Second Putnam County Courthouse (courthouse third-floor lobby): The largest of the pieces, this painting of the building that stood until 1904 is 72 inches wide by 67 inches tall.

• Second Putnam County Courthouse from the south (Auditor’s Office).

• First Putnam County Courthouse (Auditor’s Office).

• Old Mount Pleasant Church (Recorder’s Office).

• Unidentified house – Long rumored to have been the Halfway House restaurant in Mt. Meridian, though this is doubtful (Recorder’s Office).

• Unidentified log house (Recorder’s Office).

Of the 10 known surviving landscapes painted by Putnam County artist Elisha Cowgill, three were long grouped together in a cluster in the Putnam County Recorder’s Office, including the old Mount Pleasant Church (left) and two unidentified homes. The six Cowgills formerly on display at the courthouse will remain at the Putnam County Museum under the terms of an agreement struck this week.

Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN