Collections record Beta

Collection Record Detail

Object Name

Charcoal Drawing

Object Number

1999-08-5

Description

Heavy grade 100% white cotton drawing paper with hand drawn 3 1/4" grid cross hatched by brown pencil. Central figure is a woman wearing a kerchief on her head kneeling with her back to the viewer. She is wearing a straight skirt and belted jacket. The soles of her shoes protrude from her skirt. Written on front of drawing, "To Charlotte Warren with affection and gratitude Austin Purves 1950" Wooden frame with glass.

Provenance

Written on back of frame "Ellen, Austin's wife, posed for this study for the mural at Saint Catholic Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

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.