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PROUDLY PRESENTING
Preserving Creative Spaces: Photographs of Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios


Session I      July 11, 2022 – July 15, 2022 
                       9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 

Session II     July 11, 2022 – July 15, 2022
                      12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.  
Session III    Aug. 15, 2022 – Aug. 19, 2022
                      9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 
Session IV   Aug. 15, 2022 – Aug.19, 2022 
                     12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. 

 (12 student limit for each session)


Cost: $100 per session
Ages:  7 – 12

Location:  John F. Peto Studio Museum |102 Cedar Ave. Island Heights, NJ 08732
*Includes gallery exhibition of children’s art upon completion


Still Life with Corncob Pipe, Beer Stein, Book and Candlestick 

A Journey Home

John F. Peto painted Still Life with Corncob Pipe, Beer Stein, Book and Candlestick in the 1880s in his home in Island Heights, NJ.

The painting remained in the Peto home in Island Heights until 1948, when Peto’s daughter, Helen Peto Smiley, gave the painting as a gift to Alfred Frankenstein, the 20th century’s foremost authority in the trompe l’oeil tradition of art. Frankenstein was a distinguished art critic and author of the book, After the Hunt. The painting hung in the home of Frankenstein in San Francisco for more than 30 years. Following his passing in 1981, the painting was purchased by Martin and Rena Blackman from Manhattan. They maintained ownership of the painting for the next 40 years.

The painting was auctioned by Christies in New York in January 2022. A local collector secured the painting with the desire to have the painting returned to the John F. Peto Studio Museum in Island Heights.

Over the decades, the painting was exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, The Detroit Institute of Arts, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the La Jolla Museum of Art in California.

Following many years of traveling around the country, in February 2022, the still life returned home to where its journey began some 130 years ago.


Save The Date

2022 Peto Cup and Regatta 10th Annual Fundraiser

Friday, August 5, 2022 | 5:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Location:  Island Heights Yacht Club |65 River Ave.

Catered American BBQ, Live and Virtual Auctions, Live Band, 50/50 Raffle,
Mount Gay Rum hat toss and Open Bar


Volunteer Spotlight

We asked what they enjoy most about volunteering at the John F. Peto Studio Museum: 

Joyce Kaizar:  “First some background as to how I became Volunteer Coordinator of the Museum. After the first year of our existence, Sarah Punderson passed it on to me. I felt, in my heart, that it was my destiny. I lived nearby, knew Joy, and my first date with my (now deceased) husband was at OCHS, where Joy presented the Washington DC “slide”exhibit of her grandfather, John F. Peto.. I was smitten (with both guys). The commitment of our volunteers is what I am most thankful for. Emails have been our connection throughout the years. I have come to know and respect our wonderful volunteers and consider them my friends. When I’m concerned, on Friday, that I am short for the weekend, someone comes through. An excellent example of their love for our organization.”


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