"Gathering Sap", 1929. From the Teresa & Thomas Russell collection. Oil on board. Dimensions: 9 1/2" x 11 1/2". Housed in original frame: 15" x 17". George Arthur Hays (1854-1934) was born in New Hampshire in 1854, but spent his adult life in Providence as a self-taught artist. During his lifetime, Providence was shifting from a rural to urban environment. Hays created paintings that celebrated the rural world, giving nature and animals a place of importance. Hays preferred painting in oils and watercolor, creating peaceful and stable paintings of cattle and sheep. His paintings show the influence of the Barbizon School and French animal portraiture, as he often uses rich colors. Hays gives his animals a sense of dignity, as they are integral to rural life. Exhibiting regularly at the Providence Art Club, Hays’ paintings were noted for their tranquility and bucolic settings. This work is from the thoughtful and passionate collection of Teresa and Thomas Russell, assembled between 1970 – 1990 when only a few recognized the quality of American artists and collected their paintings.

Good

9.5 x 11.5 in

2 lb