Collections record Beta

Sketch - Billy Almy

1953-17-50

Pencil sketch on paper of a young boy wearing a collared, button-down shirt. The boy is drawn to have short hair and his face is very shaded. His right ear is fully visible while only the tip of his left ear is visible. The sketch is initialed and dated in the bottom right hand corner: "AP 1941." On the back is written in large, cursive, pencil letters: "Billy Almy/AP." There are two very large lower-case letters in charcoal on the back of the sketch along with straight pencil lines at the top and bottom of the paper. Half of an "s" on the right hand side and most of a "t" on the left hand side are visible. Both letters are upside-down in relation to the label in pencil at the bottom.

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.

• Purves, Austin, 1900-1977

1941

Overall Width 1'1"; Length 1'3.25"

• paper
• charcoal
• pencil