This is the scene depicted in the first painting commissioned by the Halifax County Arts Council for its Canvas Halifax fundraiser.
While the painting by Jenna Fromal appears to be a bitter love story, it also a snapshot of Roanoke Valley history because the two people in it are John Armstrong “Archie” and Amelie Chaloner.
Archie Chaloner is the founder of Roanoke Rapids, the man who brought the first textile mill here.
The story of Archie and his wife, Amelie, go beyond the area’s history, Fromal explained at the unveiling Friday, it is also a troubled love story which was documented in the book Archie and Amelie: Love and Madness in the Gilded Age.
Chaloner, who changed his last name from Chanler, was declared insane by his family. His wife, Fromal said, “Had an interest in opiates and other men.”
The difficulty in the doing the painting was there were few photos of the couple, Fromal said.
When she was commissioned to do the painting Fromal said she knew she was going to have to go beyond her expertise of portrait painting to not only incorporate the troubled couple but put them in a setting familiar to the area — the Roanoke River.
“The river has not changed too much through history,” said Fromal, who admitted to the audience she is not a landscape painter.
Sherry Wade, first vice president of the arts council, saw the painting at a board meeting a few weeks ago. “I think it’s beautiful,” she said following the unveiling. “I love the story.”
Chaloner’s architect, who also designed for the Vanderbilts and the Astors, left another legacy in Roanoke Rapids, Wade said — the mill house, the ones designed for Chaloner being the turtle houses. “It’s an amazing story.”
Diane Schecter won the painting, bidding $1,600 on it.
“The story, the love story,” Schecter said of the painting. “It could be mine.”
Schecter said she has always admired Fromal’s work. “I admire the way she presents emotion in all of her work.”
Discussing Amelie’s portrayal, Schecter sad, “It looks like she’s in a different world, the thought of the agony and pain they went through as lovers.”
Schecter thought the first painting unveiled would be something from the colonial period. “We have a lot of history that I initially thought I would see. I didn’t know their story. Now I need to learn to tell the story verbatim.”
She plans to hang the painting in her living room. “I’m excited about this recurring year after year after year,” she said of Canvas Halifax. “I’m hoping it will bring other young artists out.”
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