Folk Painting of George Washington by Michigan Barber Cyrus T. Fuery

Exhibited at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, Colonial Williamsburg, 1976

If George Washington were painted by Andy Warhol for a Campbell Soup can, he might look a good deal like this modernistic, 1917 interpretation by Cyrus T. Fuery, a barber from Parma, Michigan. Dated 1917 (the first year of U.S. involvement in WWI). The painting is signed on the reverse.

Fuery's oversized canvas (30 x 40.5 inches) shows the hand of an accomplished folk artist. His treatment of the angular facial features, serpentine brow, and hair are whimsical, bold, and appealing.

One other work by Feury is known, a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, which is said to have hung in his barbershop. The whereabouts of the Lincoln portrait are currently unknown.

Date: Dated 1917

Measurement: Frame: 36.75" x 47.5"; view: 29.75" x 40.5"

Material: Oil on canvas over the original wooden strainer, modern gilded frame.

Condition: Excellent... There are tiny, patched repairs.

Provenance: This work was exhibited at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum in Colonial Williamsburg in a special patriotic exhibit for the 1976 Bicentennial curated by then-curator Don Walters, the esteemed folk-art expert and long-time antiques dealer.

$15,000

SKU: 362-18

For More Information, Please Contact David Hillier at 978-597-8084 or email drh@aaawt.com.

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