Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Painting |
Catalog Number |
2018.113.3 |
Creator |
Sawyier, Paul, 1865-1917 |
Date |
ca. 1900 |
Material(s) |
Paper/Paint |
Dimensions |
H-11 W-16.5 inches |
Description |
This is a watercolor painting by Paul Sawyier. It is part of the "The Two Villages" series. The painting is attached to a backing board that has the words "All around it the forest trees/Shiver and whisper in the breeze." The words are on the right side and across the bottom on the right side. The painting is of a set of steps leading up a hill through some trees and bushes. In the middle background is a faint stand of green trees. |
Notes |
This set (2018.113.1-14) was owned by Mary (Mayme) Bull, Paul Sawyier's girlfriend. It is a complement to another set also called "The Two Villages" (1939.698-.716 and 2014.00.217) that is owned by the Kentucky Historical Society. The series of paintings by Sawyier illustrate 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 |
Mary Ann B. Quesenberry Collection |
People |
Sawyier, Paul, 1865-1917 Quesenberry, Mary Ann Bull, Mary Thomas (Mayme) |
Subjects |
Landscape paintings Watercolor paintings Watercolors Staircases Stairs |
Search Terms |
Frankfort (Ky.) |
Physical Holder |
Kentucky Historical Society - KHS |