Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Painting |
Title |
All the Villagers..., #13 in 'The Two Villages' series |
Catalog Number |
1939.711 |
Creator |
Sawyier, Paul, 1865-1917 |
Maker |
Frankfort |
Date |
ca. 1895 |
Material(s) |
Paint/Paper |
Dimensions |
H-19.5 W-23.5 inches |
Description |
This watercolor is # 13 in 'The Two Villages' series painted by Paul Sawyier [unsigned] and based on the poem by Rose Terry Cooke. The painting is on separate sheet and adhered to a matte backing with a line of the poem beneath. The watercolor depicts the Daniel Boone monument in the Frankfort cemetery. The white stone monument is a rectangular pillar set on a stepped plinth. Four trees surround the monument, two on the left and two on the right. The two on the right grow close together, the ones on the left are separated. Through these two trees on the left and over the edge of the bluff one can view in the distant background the city of Frankfort, Kentucky. Other trees and bushes line the edge of the bluff behind the monument and trees. The painting covers the entire sheet. The sheet of paper is adhered to a board with the painted inscription of one line of Cooke's poem. The painting is framed in a gold frame. |
Notes |
Thirteenth in a series of paintings by Sawyier illustrating Rose Terry Cooke's 1860 poem 'The Two Villages,' which contrasts life in a small town with the local cemetery on the hill. Sawyier used scenes from Frankfort and Frankfort Cemetery. Sawyier did three sets of paintings based on the poem. The first set had agricultural images from a man ploughing to a grim reaper in a field. A common question in regards to this series of paintings is how did Sawyier become familiar with a poem written by a woman in New England? It turns out that the poem "The Two Villages" was published in a supplement to the Frankfort Roundabout on February 16, 1895. A note under the title saying "applicable to Frankfort and her cemetery" was added by the editors. Is this how Sawyier first heard of the poem? Maybe. We may never know exactly how he came to know about the poem but it is very possible that he read it in 1895 and then painted the illustrations later in the decade. |
Collection |
Estate of Anne Thomas Collection |
People |
Sawyier, Paul, 1865-1917 Boone, Daniel, 1734-1820 Cooke, Rose Terry |
Subjects |
Cemeteries Landscapes Art Painting Paintings Poems Poetry Monuments Monuments & memorials |
Search Terms |
Land Landscapes Impressionism Impressionism (Art) |
Physical Holder |
Kentucky Historical Society - KHS |