Watercolor, 1958. 520x340 mm; 20 1/2x13 1/2 inches. Signed and dated in watercolor, twice, lower right.
Ex-collection: estate of the artist, Philadelphia; private collection, Philadelphia.
This floral watercolor is a beautiful mid-career work by one of the WPA's great watercolor artists. Born in Wilmington, NC, Samuel Joseph Brown lived and worked in Philadelphia through most of his career. He received an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania after studying at the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art from 1926-1930. He taught in Philadelphia public schools for 35 years. He also participated in the WPA from 1933-35, producing numerous watercolors which were praised by Eleanor Roosevelt at the time. His watercolors were also exhibited at the Harmon Foundation, New York, and the Barnett-Aden Gallery, Washington, DC.
