SPRINGFIELD – The major exhibition of the works of the married couple William Jurian Kaula and Lee Lufkin Kaula at the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts may lead to a rediscovery of the two artists who split their time between Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The Kaulas were highly regarded artists during their lives, but Heather Haskell, director of the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, their reputation became more obscure because they did not sell their work. Instead they gave their paintings – for William it was landscapes and for Lee it was portraits – to friends, family members and the people who were employed at their homes.  

Now Haskell hopes “Two Lives, One Passion: American Impressionist Paintings and Sketches by William Jurian Kaula and Lee Lufkin Kaula” that includes 120 paintings, as well as photos and sketchbooks will enhance their contemporary reputation.

Considered members of the Boston School of Art in the late 19th century and early 20th century, A. J. Philpott wrote of William’s art in The Boston Daily Globe in 1913, “His work is genuinely satisfying and stimulating to those who appreciate an artist who understands how to paint and what to paint and can put that touch of poetry and imagination into his work which appeals to every lover of nature ...Mr. Kaula has long been distinguished for his skies. He feels and understands cloud forms as do few artists, especially the massive beauty of the summer cumulus clouds as well as their depth and luminosity under given circumstances.”

A review of Lee’s work at a show at the Copley Gallery in Boston in the early 1900s noted, “Although there is freedom of technique in these paintings there is also careful drawing, fine modeling in the faces and splendid character. Most of these portraits are of young women – beautiful women – in whom character is a subtle gesture of the eye, or mouth or both very often. The artist catches these subtleties of character which add s so much to the distinction of the pose.”

The exhibit features – aside from two paintings – the collection of Stanley Fry, a resident of Peterborough, New Hampshire, near where the Kaulas spent their summers in New Ipswich.

Fry explained he is a collector with an interest in 20th Century American Impressionism and discovered the married couple through living in Peterborough near where the Kaulas once lived. He discovered the work in a gallery.

He said at a press conference at the museum he was struck by the beauty of William’s landscapes. “William was especially skilled in doing cloud scenes,” he said.

Fry also praised William’s “nice way of introducing colors.”

Once interested in the work of the couple, Fry started collecting what he could find and has more than 250 paintings and hundred of sketches, as well as photos and even pieces of furniture from their home. What he discovered if the Kaulas did not sell their work, but gave it away.

Carol Scollans, senior lecturer of Art History for the Art Department at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, who was the guest curator of the exhibit wrote, ““The Kaulas lived and worked inseparably . . . They did not paint for the pursuit of fame and fortune; rather, it was for the love of art and for the primacy of personal expression.”

Fry said that he has bought some of the paintings at auction, while others have come from the descendants of the domestic help employed by the couple.

He pointed out that because the paintings were given away, many of them had insufficient frames and he has replaced many them making sure the new frame was in style with those from a century ago.

Haskell said both artists have a link to Springfield as their work has been featured at a gallery here.

She said, ““The Kaulas offer a wonderful story. They met while painting in Europe and fell in love. And they pursued art for the love of art, not for commercial gain. Two love stories in one. Also we can explore why the Kaulas – both very talented artists– resisted imposed trends and kept out of the limelight.”