Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Painting |
Title |
Over the River..., #2 in 'The Two Villages' series |
Catalog Number |
1939.704 |
Creator |
Sawyier, Paul, 1865-1917 |
Maker |
Frankfort |
Date |
ca. 1895 |
Material(s) |
Paint/Paper |
Dimensions |
H-8.125 W-13.5 inches |
Description |
This is #2 in the 'The Two Villages' series. The cemetery road, a dirt road flanked by stone walls, winds up hill toward the cemetery which is in the background in the upper right. The Kentucky River is on the right side of the painting. There are trees in the foreground and background. |
Notes |
Two 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 the 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 Cooke, Rose Terry |
Subjects |
Rivers Cemeteries Landscapes Art Painting Paintings Poems Poetry River valleys |
Search Terms |
Land Landscapes Impressionism Impressionism (Art) River Rivers |
Physical Holder |
Kentucky Historical Society - KHS |