Oil on Canvas Portrait of David Mitchell (b. 1940) painted by Kenneth Brown Ransley in 1949. Signed upper right. In whitewashed frame. In frame 17"x21"x2 1/2". Weight 4 pds. Kenneth Brown Ransley (March 21, 1893-June 12, 1989) was a female portrait artist who painted thousands of paintings in her lifetime. A native of Dawson, Ga., she studied art at the School of Art Institute of Chicago and met her husband, artist Frank T. Ransley, while in school. The couple settled in Park Ridge, Ill., where Kenneth painted portrait commissions and held open studio sessions with live models. Park Ridge attracted many artists. "Other artists who also lived and worked in Park Ridge include Albert Krehbiel and his wife, Dulah Evans Krehbiel, Alfonso Iannelli, Grant Wood and Eugene Romeo. During World War II, she donated her talents to the war effort, visiting the Service Men's Center in Chicago twice a week to sketch portraits of enlisted men. She executed 1,200 of these portraits and gave them to either the sitter or his family. PROVENANCE: Edwin Moore Brogdon, PhD, collection. Dr. Brogdon was the owner of Brogdon Manor, a stately plantation home, located in the Brogdon Community, near Sumter, SC. The home was built in 1898 by his grandfather William Turner Brogdon. The Brogdon community was comprised of a local country store, cotton gin, sawmill and dairy. William Turner Brogdon was one of the largest planters in Sumter and Clarendon counties at the end of the 19th century.

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