Name/Title
Print: Country Man 516-5 and Country Woman 516-6Description
Two ten-color silkscreen prints on off-white linen. Compositions depict a country man and a country woman surrounded by tools of daily work on an early American farm.
Country Man: a Pennsylvania “Dutch” farmer in 18th century dress stands in profile against a red barn. Implements of work surround him: a sickle and hay fork are on the barn wall, and in his hands he holds an ax and a yoke for hauling water. A wooden water bucket, a pile of split wood and an unsplit log are at his feet. Atop the barn is a rooster weathervane. The sky is streaked with curving blue meridian lines and in between are zodiac symbols, a reference to The Farmers Almanac. Wert’s zodiac symbol, Leo, is near his signature, to the right of the water bucket.
Country Woman: a Pennsylvania “Dutch” woman in eighteenth century dress stands in a well appointed interior, the tools of work around her indicate it is a kitchen. In one hand she holds a footed cast iron pot, in the other she operates a butter churn that sits on a green spindle back chair. A slipware jug and an and a wrought iron andiron are on the brick floor at her feet. On shelves in the window beyond are two examples of painted tinware, a hand blown glass bottle, a cast iron trivet for an iron and a wrought iron cooking fork and spoon. A potted geranium sits on a bracket above. The window is finished with a valance and atop the window is a stenciled frieze of red tulips in the style of Pennsylvania “Dutch” folk art.
Both scenes indicate a life of plenty gained through hard work.
This pair of prints appears individually in the c.1955 brochure “Country Prints in Frames’’, and in a c.1955 price list.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Robert Darr WertRole
ArtistManufacturer
Country PrintsDate made
circa 1950 - circa 1952Time Period
20th CenturyPlace
Location
Gill MA.Continent
North AmericaInscription/Signature/Marks
Country Man: “WERT” in black block print, and Leo zodiac symbol, lower right corner; “by hand” in lowercase block print, lower left corner.
Country Woman: “WERT” in black block print, lower left corner; “by hand” in lowercase black block print, lower right corner.
On back of each frame is rubber stamped:
“PICTURE FRAMES BY:
SLADE’S STUDIO
741 NORTH MONROE ST.
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA”Dimensions
Dimension Description
Prints, exclusive of framesHeight
16 inWidth
5 inDimension Description
Third party framesHeight
17-1/4 inWidth
6-1/8 inDepth
5/8 inMaterial
Bleached Linen, Textile Ink, Cardboard, Wood, PaintColors
Color
Light Chartreuse, Blue, Red, Light Blue, Flesh Tone, Brown, Light Gray, Green, Beige, BlackColor Notes
Additional colors and tones are produced by overprinting.
