Fountain Lutheran

Margit’s “most popular” scene

<< | Paintings | >>

Margit painted one scene more than any other. No other scene even comes close. Margit recreated a view of Fountain Lutheran Church, rural Hustler, Wisconsin, more than 50 times.

At left is Fountain Lutheran Church photographed around 1960. Margit’s son-in-law Ron Nowland served this church as a pastor from 1958 to 1962.

In 1960, Margit created a painting (at right) and gifted it to Frieda and Ron.

60-05

Click to enlarge

The “original” Fountain

  • ID: 60-05 “Fountain Chr”
  • Details: 16″ x 20″ / .. / Initial owner: R&F Nowland
  • Comment: As parishioners saw this displayed in their pastor’s home, they wanted a painting of their church too. Soon the “orders” flowed back to Margit.

Yet Another Painting
Many of these paintings cannot be assigned specific reference numbers because they were painted and delivered to parishioners in batches.

Due to the demand, Margit painted over fifty of this same scene. She varied the seasons, though fall was the most popular. Finally she refused to do more.

Re-Homed
Because Margit finished producing Fountain pictures in the 1960s, many of these paintings have changed hands over the years. The one at left has “come back to the family” after the original owners passed on.

This painting’s current owner is Jon Mindrum Nowland, who was baptized at this church when his dad was its pastor.

A Cloudy Day
You may notice the clouds in this picture don’t look like those Margit typically drew. This painting, probably framed without glass, was damaged by a building’s sprinkler system (it is, after all, water-based paint). It was later touched up by Margit’s daughter, Ellen Olson.

It’s believed Ellen sought to make the picture presentable again but didn’t wish people to mistake it for Margit’s work.

This picture had been displayed in the Mission Home in Hustler WI. This small elder-care facility, no longer in operation, was run by local churches like Fountain.

A Different Angle
Besides the popular view up the road, Margit also painted Fountain Church from the front. She created four paintings from this perspective.

1st owner: R&F Nowland

In her records, Margit summarized her Fountain paintings with the following handwritten notes. No, we can’t verify her math.

Paintings Made of Fountain church
 1 -- 1960   16x20    gift
10 -- 1961     "       50.00
14 -- 1962     "       70.00
14 -- 1963     "       75.00 one 18x24
15 -- 1964     "       75.00
 2 -- 1965     "       10.00
52                   $270.00
                 Through Frieda & Ron

Another church entirely
About the same time Margit was cranking out all the Fountain churches, she painted a church from the nearby town of Mauston, Wisconsin.

  • ID: 62-36 “Mauston Chr” [closeup at left]
  • Details: 16×20 / Orig price $5 / 1st owner: M Tverberg (gifted by Nowlands)

For some reason “Mauston church” didn’t become as popular as the Fountain church painting. (Margit never painted it again.) One contributing factor may be that the building has undergone so many renovations over the years that it’s unrecognizable from the painting.