작품 상세

Francis Speight (American/North Carolina, 1896-1989), "Red Clay Street, Statesville, N.C.", 1938, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower left, "The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Art / One Hundred and Forty-First Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture / January 26 through March 3, 1946", "Virginia Museum of Fine Arts / Second Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings / 1940" and "Third Award Ribbon / Piedmont Festival of Music and Art / Winston-Salem, N.C., 1944" exhibition labels on stretcher, 30 1/4 in. x 41 3/4 in., framed. Provenance: Robert Cheek Fine Arts, Inc., Charlotte, NC, June 21, 1985. Note: Fellow artist Hobson Pittman spoke of Francis Speight, "There is almost an uncanny sense of communication with nature found in the work of Francis Speight; his houses are lived in, sunlight sharply defines edges and forms, shadows actually crawl over planes and become absorbed with light as they juxtapose themselves with higher pitched colors." This quote perfectly describes "Red Clay Street, Statesville, N.C.," with its rich hues and mixture of light and shadow. Following the conclusion of World War I, Speight attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, continuing there as a student teacher and instructor. He painted primarily in the Philadelphia area, including Manayunk and Doylestown, although Speight also made short painting and sketching excursions to North Carolina, as evidenced by the well-exhibited and masterful work offered here. Ref.: Francis Speight: A Retrospective Exhibition, February 16 - March 26, 1961. Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1961.