William Charles Anthony Frerichs (American, 1829-1905), Woman at Spinning Wheel

oil on canvas, signed at lower right, presented in an antique gilt composition frame.
Stretcher size 26 x 20 in.; Frame dimensions 30 3/4 x 25 3/4 in.
Born in the Netherlands, William Frerichs studied art and medicine in the Hague and Leyden. He immigrated to the United States in 1850, settling for four years in New York. He married Clara Butler in 1854 and was introduced to her friend Charles F. Deems, a Methodist minister and president of Greensboro Female College (now Greensboro College). Frerichs soon accepted a teaching position at the college and moved to North Carolina.

Frerichs was awed by the Appalachian and Sauratown mountains of North Carolina. When not teaching, he would hike into the wilderness with his paints and brushes to capture the landscapes on canvas. Unfortunately, many of his paintings from this period were destroyed in a fire that swept through his studio at the college in 1863. Following this setback, Frerichs and his family found their way back up to New York, settling in Staten Island.

Additional high-resolution photos are available at www.lelandlittle.com

Stretcher marks; light surface grime; small puncture at lower right below terracotta jar; light rubbing to edges of canvas from frame; several very small paint flakes in lower left quadrant; minor chipping to frame.