Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Painting |
Catalog Number |
2018.113.2 |
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 watercolor is pasted to a paper board. The painting is a scene of two men on the Kentucky River. One is pulling a rope that is attached to a raft. The second man is standing on the raft and is using a pole to push it. In the center ground is a boat--brown on the boat; white on the top. Along the river banks are green trees and bushes. In the upper left corner is an image of the Arsenal. It is white/light gray. In the upper right tombstones can be seen in the Frankfort Cemetery. |
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 Rivers Riverboats Rafts Arsenals Cemeteries |
Search Terms |
Frankfort (Ky.) Kentucky Military History Museum Kentucky River (Ky.) |
Physical Holder |
Kentucky Historical Society - KHS |