$102,000
John Rasmussen (Pennsylvania, Germany, 1828-1895) View of the Buildings & Surroundings of the Berks County Almshouse. , c. 1880. Unsigned, titled in inscriptions below. Oil and gold paint on zinc panel, 32 1/4 x 40 in., in a period molded wood frame with gilt liner. Condition: Scattered retouch and gilt loss. Literature: See The Americana Collection of Richard and Rosemarie Machmer, Pook & Pook Inc., October 25, 2008, Lot 437, which sold a similar painting of the Berks County almshouse by Rasmussen. Exhibitions: Where Liberty Dwells: 19th-Century Art by the American People, Works of Art in the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Tillou, traveling exhibition February 22, 1976 to May 29, 1977, the painting illustrated on plate 80 in the exhibition catalog; American Folk Painting, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, January 14th to February 20th, 1977, with exhibition label on the back of the frame. Note: This elaborately detailed painting depicts a large central oval reserve with a bird's-eye view of the buildings, grounds, and surrounding hilly rural landscape of the almshouse, with figures engaged in the activities of the community, surrounded by six smaller vignettes, identified in inscriptions, counter-clockwise beginning from the upper left corner: "Western view of the new Hospital," "Grain Barn," "Tenant house No. 1," "Kitchen-suplying [ sic ]-Spring & Reservoir," "Tenant house No. III & Cemetery," and "Tenant house No. II." The names of th Read more…
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2013-03-03
