Pittsburgh Valley, Manor Township, Student Art Poster
Description
Poster displaying artwork of five eight-grade students who attended the Pittsburg Valley one-room school in Manor Township in 1933. Black and orange colored construction paper airplanes "Spirit of St. Louis" are by Ralph Richter and James Frey. There are three other square paper designs of black, orange, green and blue.
On the back, artwork has been removed, but the following Grade 8 students' names are written: Lottie Ressler, Cleo Sourbeer and Ralph Richter.
Provenance
Note clipped to poster display: "Randy, This is one of the 9 or 10 art work done in one rm school manor twp (Little Pittsburgh 1933) Are you interested? I must find good home for them as I promised the teacher I would. Clyde."
Damages during renovation and move. Tear in portrait after another painting fell into this one during move into new storage. Our fault, not the movers.
Stoltzfus family record on wove paper mounted in a thin, molded modern frame of tiger maple. Hand done family record of Lancaster Amish family attributed to David C. Hoke (active c. 1909-1935). Bold and colorful title is "Family Record" done with wide lettering of red and black with metallic gold highlights accompanied by green-leafed scrolling vines. Title continues on 2nd line with "...of Henry U. and Annie M. Stoltzfus." followed by the father's birth date & death date, then birth date of mother. Her death date is added later on same line with pencil. All lettering is black except for large, ornately illuminated upper case letters.
"Children" is the colorful bold heading for the remaining 3//4 of page listing 10 children with birth dates. The death date for 2-yr-old Levi is also recorded. Title has black and white letters, some red as well as metallic gold highlights. Surrounded by the same leafy scrolling vines and three upside down stalks of wheat at each side.
Remaining side borders have a vertical undulating vine with green leaves and blue clusters of grapes. Bottom is filled with a large cluster of three stalks of wheat.
Very minor stain spots, esp. at corners. Strongly creased horizontal fold line across center.
Object ID
P.96.01.1
Notes
Compare with large Esbenshade family record P.99.16.1. Hoke made Bible entries, bookplates and many large family registers in northern Lancaster County and southern Lebanon County. Large, ornate family registers made for the Amish seem to be a specialty of Hoke. He signed and dated much of his work, oftern including his home location of Quentin and later Lititz.
See file for:
1) Stoltzfus genealogy from "Fisher Family History."
2) Information sheet on David C. Hoke by Russ and Corinne Earnest "Papers for Birth Dayes."
Place of Origin
Lancaster County
Credit
Gift of the James Hale Steinman Foundation, Heritage Center Coll
The Japanese Kimono (has been listed as "Japanese Print")
Description
Large oil on canvas painting of a seated woman wearing a Japanese kimono, according to the title. The subject is Helen Thurlow, a Lancaster/Greenwich Village-based Pa. Academy of Fine Arts-trained artist & illustrator.
On back: Signed at upper right corner; 2 provenance show labels/stickers from Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
Survey done by Tom Ryan and Mike Heberlein states:
Painting: Signed upper right A. Traquair Lang, Auction #124 at lower right. Good condition (Note: Found on 06-28-17, a large 2" long puncture tear to right of subject's face.) Surface dirt, discolored varnish, minor cracking of paint (center right, center area of kimono).
Frame: Fair, minor scuffing throughout, painted gold.
Frame conservation needs: Minor touchup throughout.
Object ID
1951.013
Notes
All info via correspondence w/ writer/researcher Eve Kahn
This painting was exhibited in various shows, including the 1915 Panama-Pacific expo in California. It is pictured in a centennial book on p. 24 installed on gallery #65 wall and flanked by two more of her ptgs. See:
See Objects Photos for above image (in 1915 expo).
Subject Helen A. Thurlow (1889- ?) was the daughter of Thomas and Annie Thurlow of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, from 1904-1912, where Thomas Anshutz was head instructor. He painted her portrait, seated sideways, and the portrait is thought to be during Ms. Thurlow's student years. See:
Portrait of Helen Thurlow, pastel on canvas, c. 1910 by Thos. Anschutz
(Portrait sold by Hammer Galleries, NY, NY.)
Annie T. Lang was painted by her mentor William Merritt Chase in 1911. This O/C ptg. is owned by the PMA & has accession # 1928-63-4. The label reads:
"William Merritt Chase was an early pioneer of Impressionist aesthetics in the United States and enjoyed immense popularity during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A celebrated teacher, Chase likely first met his protégée Annie Lang (1885-1918) in 1901 when she enrolled in one of his annual summer schools on Long Island. Painted in the summer of 1911 outside Florence, Italy, while Chase was on one of his many extended sojourns in Europe, this portrait of Lang suggests the close, perhaps intimate, relationship between the two artists. The painting incorporates the rich fabrics, ornate décor, and elegant attire that characterize Chase's interior scenes".