Portrait of a boy proud of his big catch. Oil on masonite 11 3/4 x 9 in., 14 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (framed). From AskART.com: The following was submitted as bulletins by Susan Fisher:Francis Vandeveer Kughler, known to his friends and family as "Bill", was involved with my mother, Sue Ballard Fisher, from October 1959 until her death from cancer in July 1967. They had two children - Juno Lisa Kughler, born in 1962, and Iris Lee Kughler, born in 1965. Bill met Sue (a widow and Director of Nursing at Graveley Sanitorium) in Chapel Hill, NC when I was a 9 year old model for two of his murals for the Institute of Government Building at UNC. Sue was the model for all the sisters of the Pleides, featured in the last mural in the series. In the summer of 1961, my mother & I moved north to be closer to Bill's studio in NYC, living on Lake Candlewood in Danbury, CT from 1962-1967. Bill told me he recognized his own talent at an early age; by age 5 he already knew he wanted to be an artist. By age 12, he was largely supporting his mother and younger siblings with his illustrations of period furniture for a NY company. He took advantage of scholarships to pursue his art education and he further supported himself during art school by playing coronet in a band. He would go to the zoo and other places where he could find free subjects to paint since he couldn't afford models beyond those in the school classrooms. He learned to manage his money well and invested over the years using advice from his wealthy patrons who became his friends. He was very pragmatic but had a whimsical sense of humor. He had unusually light blue eyes that could look rather frosty when he was displeased, yet he delighted in playing with his young daughters and was able to tell them silly fairy tales and make up games that sent them shrieking in delight. He was a complex person who could be both egotistical and understanding, and rigid and liberal in his thinking. He was a classic conservative politically; also he was an atheist who was extremely interested in mythology and religion.

Good condition