Name/Title
Mearns, Petra (1907-2006) "Scene from Rose and Rook"Entry/Object ID
2025.900.FA18204Tags
Tempera PaintingDescription
The references in this uncanny painting aren’t clear. At the front of a stage we see a performer, seemingly dressed as a princess and like Cinderella wearing only a single slipper. She holds in her hand a white flower. Behind her, peeking out from seven “legs” receding into the distance, are stylized characters who seem to be drawn from folk tales: a king and queen, a dour stepsister, and so on. The scene is framed by footlights, curtains, and at far right a rope pull reaches out to us invitingly. Mearns’ title references a yearly festival in Barcelona; the painting’s anarchic energy also may derive from her experience with Hervey White’s summer “Maverick Festival” productions near Woodstock, NY.Collection
Mt. Morris TB Hospital FAP CollectionDimensions
Height
21-1/2 inWidth
17-1/2 inCondition
Overall Condition
GoodDate Examined
Jul 27, 2025Notes
2 cracks top middle edge/right middle/lower left corner to lower right corner, 9 scratches lower left and right corners/top of forehead and bottom edge on glass middle right to bottom/middle upper top, 9 holes on the back upper/left corner to lower left corner/bottom edges, fingerprints on glass edgesProvenance
Provenance Detail
Created under the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project (1930s–1940s), this collection of easel paintings was originally installed at the Mount Morris Tuberculosis Sanitorium in Livingston County, New York. Following the sanitorium’s closure in 1970, the artworks were abandoned and remained in storage until their rediscovery decades later. Now preserved and exhibited by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts (GVCA), the collection is housed at the New Deal Museum in Mount Morris. Current efforts include digitization, high-resolution photography, and the creation of an online archive to ensure long-term public access and research availability.General Notes
Note Type
Cataloging NoteNote
See the entry titled 'New Deal Collection' for supporting documents, and general historic and research information.
