Name/Title
Road to SunderlandEntry/Object ID
2017.12.2Description
Small oil painting of a winter farm scene. A road in the foreground leads to a grey barn with other red outbuildings. A large tree appears behind the barn and mountains can be seen in the background. The painting is mostly in shades of greys and browns except for the two red buildings. A label affixed to the back entitles the painting, "Road to Sunderland."Artwork Details
Subject Place
City
SunderlandCounty
Bennington CountyState/Province
VermontCountry
United States of AmericaContinent
North AmericaContext
Jay Connaway was born in Liberty, Indiana, November 27, 1893, the son of Cass Connaway, a lawyer and collector of Chinese art, and his wife May. Jay Connaway graduated from Emmerich Manual High School and undertook his first art training from William Forsyth, known for coastal Oregon views, at John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis in 1910 and 1911. Connaway left home to tour the California and Oregon coasts, working his way across the country and then back to the East Coast as a stoker on engines for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad.
In New York, Connaway enrolled at the National Academy of Design school in 1912. From 1912 to 1914 he attended the Art Student's League at New York City, where he studied with George Bridgman and with William Merritt Chase. Another influence was Robert Henri, a New York Social Realist and leader of the Ashcan School, whom Connaway had met while attending night classes at the National Academy.
In 1917 he enlisted and shipped out to Contrexeville, France. After suffering a shoulder wound, he worked as a cartographer. Then he was assigned to what he called "the most wonderful work of my life"—making detailed watercolor drawings of lesions caused by mustard gas. This brought him to the attention of Lafayette Page, a physician who was so impressed with Connaway's draftsmanship that, at the close of the war, he sponsored his studies at the Académie Julian (1919–20) under Jean Paul Laurens and at the École des Beaux-Arts (1921) in Paris.
With backing from collectors and gallery owners, Connaway, "seeking to paint the lonely sea" found his way to uninhabited Head Harbor Island off the coast of Jonesport, Maine where he lived as an artistic hermit. He later worked dories with a Grand Banks fishing fleet, was also a cook for a lumber camp in Maine, and he enlisted in the Coast Guard.
In 1928 Connaway married Louise Boehle. During the Depression, Connaway moved to Monhegan Island to paint and start the Connaway Art School.
The Connaways remained on Monhegan until 1947, when they moved to Vermont, residing in Dorset until 1953, then North Rupert. Connaway painted rural landscapes of the Vermont countryside and operated a summer art school, until 1966.
In 1962, Connaway merged his school with the Southern Vermont Arts Center and became the school's first director. During the 1960s, in addition to managing the art school Connaway painted in Portugal, Spain, California, and Arizona. In the last year of his life, troubled with poor eyesight and failing health, Connaway was no longer able to paint.Acquisition
Accession
2017.12Source or Donor
Osborne, Marjorie B.Acquisition Method
BequestMade/Created
Artist
Connaway, Jay Hall (1893-1970)Date made
1955 - 1969Place
Town
RupertCounty
Bennington CountyState/Province
VermontCountry
United States of AmericaContinent
North AmericaLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
PaintingNomenclature Class
ArtNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsDimensions
Height
14-1/2 inWidth
16-1/2 in