Name/Title
In The StationEntry/Object ID
2024.24.2Description
Painting of a woman waiting for a train. The woman sits upright on a wooden bench in a train station waiting room. She wears a gray hat with a small brim, a black cardigan with a gray coat draped behind her shoulders, and a long gray skirt. She has a leather overnight bag on the bench to her right. There is a ticket booth with a station employee standing in the background behind a grate, and a sign that says "TICKETS" to the viewer's left of the window. The painting is signed "FRANCIS COLBURN" in dark paint in the lower right corner, and resides in a simple molded wooden frame.Type of Painting
EaselContext
Francis Colburn was born in Fairfax, Vermont and lived in Craftsbury Commons, Vermont, for most of his adult life. He started his art education as a violinist before attending the University of Vermont in 1934 where he focused all his time on painting. With his strong roots in rural Vermont, Colburn was an educator, painter, and humorist that brought down-home ideas to modern art.
Colburn was supported by the Work Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project (WPA/ FAP), a New Deal relief program that encouraged a democratic society, that lasted from 1935-1943. Colburn was continuing his education as a painter and participating in the Art Students League in New York City. His paintings reflected the struggles and everyday lives of Americans. Colburn’s imagery throughout his career expressed themes of individual contemplation and timelessness.
Colburn was hired as the artist in residence at the University of Vermont in 1942 and later chairman of the art department. He supported the arts community in Vermont and fostered lasting relationships as a teacher and mentor. As an educator, he believed in challenging his students to break barriers and challenge realism. He participated in many speaking engagements throughout Vermont about art and used his acclaimed folk humor. His most famous album was his “A Graduation Address from Upstate Vermont.” His legacy continues at the University of Vermont as faculty and students showcase their art in the Francis Colburn Gallery.Acquisition
Accession
2024.24Source or Donor
Dudey, RyanAcquisition Method
PurchaseMade/Created
Artist
Colburn, Francis Peabody (1909-1984)Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
PaintingNomenclature Class
ArtNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsDimensions
Width
25-1/2 inLength
31-1/2 inInterpretative Labels
Label
In The Station, c. 1935
Francis Colburn (1909-1984)
Bennington, Vermont
Oil on canvas
Museum Purchase, #2024.24.2
In one of his earliest paintings, Francis Colburn visits a theme that stayed with him throughout his life. This view of an older woman waiting for a train evokes loneliness and isolation. Her clothing and hat speak of an earlier time, a holdover from the Roaring 20s to the hardship of the 1930s. Coming of age during the Great Depression, Colburn explored the changes taking place in his home state of Vermont, and the effects on people and the landscape – a reaction or response to change and modernity seen in much of his work. This piece was most likely completed when he lived in Bennington and before his painting style was influenced by teachers Stefan Hirsch and Harry Sternberg.
From 1935 until his employment as artist-in-residence at UVM in 1942, Francis Colburn participated in the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Artist Project. He was one of the few native Vermont artists to be selected for the Easel Painter program. This New Deal program paid artists to paint public murals, document American design, create sculpture, teach art classes, and produce easel paintings for display. This work retains its rare Federal Artist Project exhibit label on the back of the canvas.