Name/Title
Tribute to Vermont (study 3)Entry/Object ID
2016.39.4Description
The drawing is on brown paper. On the entire picture there is a grid. Numbers line the vertical axis, they go up to 25 in red ink then start over from 1 in yellow ink. On the vertical axis there are letters up to G. When these two axis meet they create a square inch box; these boxes are all along the picture. In the far left corner there is a scene of Native Americans paddling a canoe, and to their left is supposedly Samuel de Champlain. To the right of the Native American scene is a picture of a man with his fist raised wearing a colonial hat. Below him there is a man chopping wood and two horses pulling something. To the right of these scenes the sketches get darker in shade. There is a picture of a church with hands clasped in a prayer position. To the churches right there is a picture of a man and woman holding each other. Under them is a man holding a piece of paper, and below this man is a picture of the state house. To the right of the state house there is a large scene of sap collecting. Two trees frame this scene. To the right and a bit above that scene there is the front of a building, below the building there is a group of people, some of them are waving their hands. Next to the group of people and the building, on the right, there is a tree, to the right of the tree begins a new scene. This scene is of farmers. Miking cows, taking care of horses. Above the farm scene there is a granite workers scene. A man waving his hand to another man working in the granite quarry. To the right of these two scenes is another tree. To the right of that tree, in the upper right corner is a scene of a college graduation. Below that is a drawing of people skiing.Type of Drawing
GraphiteContext
When National Life laid the cornerstone of its headquarters on the ridge overlooking Montpelier in 1958, their CEO approached well-known-muralist Paul Sample to create an iconic work of art to evoke the past, present, and future of Vermont as a centerpiece of the new structure. Sample worked closely with National Life to choose scenes and topics that reflected both Vermont's story and that of the company's rich Vermont roots. As he got closer to a final design, Sample produced scale drawings, called cartoons, of the mural in both pencil and paint for company approval. When he was ready to transfer the design to the full eight by fifty-foot canvas, he partitioned the final cartoon into numbered blocks to ease the enlargement of scenes. Notice how the composition and content of the mural changed from the bottom sketch to the top working design.
Paul Starrett Sample (September 14, 1896 – February 26, 1974) was an American artist who portrayed life in New England in the middle of the 20th Century with a style that showed elements of "Social Realism and Regionalism."
Sample was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1896. After having moved across the country with his family on several occasions, Sample attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. There he studied architecture and graduated in 1921 after a year in the Naval Reserve during World War I. While visiting his brother, Donald, at a sanatorium in Saranac Lake, New York, Sample contracted tuberculosis. He stayed for treatment of that disease in Saranac Lake for four years. There he met Sylvia Howland, whom he married in 1928.
At Saranac Lake, Sample studied drawing and painting under Jonas Lie. He then studied at the Art Students League of Los Angeles, and the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, California. There his work reflected social issues connected with the Great Depression with two noted paintings in 1931. In 1926 Sample joined the faculty of the University of Southern California in the school of architecture, where he remained until 1938. In 1938, he returned to New Hampshire to become the artist in residence at Dartmouth College, a position which he held until 1962. In addition to his social and regional paintings, Sample produced artwork for various magazines during World War II.Acquisition
Accession
2016.39Source or Donor
The National Life GroupAcquisition Method
GiftMade/Created
Artist
Sample, Paul Starrett (1896-1974)Date made
2016Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
DrawingNomenclature Class
ArtNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsDimensions
Height
14-1/8 inLength
55-3/4 in