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Collection Record Detail

Object Name

Sketch - Santa Magdalena Grace Line

Object Number

1953-17-3

Description

Watercolor on matboard of medallion. Circular medallion is boarded by a thin gray stripe and contains a coat of arms against a beige background. On the top portion of the medallion is a brown bird holding a green wreath in its mouth. Below the bird and inside the wreath is a golden ribbon with the inscription: "LIBERDAD Y ORDEX." Towards the bottom of the medallion is a blue, gold, white, red and teal shield. Flanking both sides of the shield is a total of four flags, two on each side, in gold, blue and red. The entire medallion is set against a white background. In the lower portion of the sketch, separated by a two-tone gray bar is a beige background. there is a faint pencil line running down the center of the sketch. Written in pencil on the bottom right hand corner of the sketch is: "Sc 1'/2" = 1" Written in pencil on the bottom left hand corner of the matboard are the words: "BRIDGE DECK" with a circled number two in blue pencil right before it. Written on backside in pencil: "SANTA MAGDALENA/GRACE LINES." Written on backside in pen to the left of pencil writing: "Austin Purves/1962"

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.