Collections record Beta

Collection Record Detail

Object Name

Sketch - Daniel Garber

Object Number

1953-17-52

Description

Charcoal and pencil sketch of a man reading a book. The man has short hair and is wearing a long-sleeved, collared shirt with a tie. The artist indicates a shadow across the top left half of the man. And the man is reading a book that is in the bottom left hand side of the paper. Only the top half of the man is visible. Signed on the front, bottom right hand corner of the sketch: "Austin M. Purves, Jr./Lumberville PA/1919." Written faintly in pencil above this inscription is written: "Lumberville 1919." Written on the back left hand corner in pencil: "Sketch of Daniel Garber/done in his studio at Lumberville/Summer 1919."On the back of the paper also appears to be a rough outline of a head that is upside down in relation to the label in the top left corner.

Comment

Born in Philadelphia, Austin M. Purves Jr. (1900-1977) lived in the East Litchfield section of Litchfield for the last 40 years of his life. Purves studied art at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts and the Académie Julian in Paris, France, before opening a studio in New York, where he was director of the day and night schools at the Cooper Union. After moving to Litchfield, Purves taught art at Bennington College and at Yale Art School and was a member of the Architectural League of New York, the National Society of Mural Painters, and the (then newly-formed) Hartford Art School. Over the course of his career Purves did commission work for R. H. Macy & Co., the Folger Memorial Library in Washington, D.C., the American Battle Monument in Draguignan, France, the 1939 World’s Fair, various churches, ship lines and private clients, among others. In addition to commission work, Purves drew primarily from people and nature for his own personal sketches and paintings.