VERSO
Artist’s label with signature, title, and date
Label, Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts

Art historian Elizabeth Leonard wrote, “Roger Medearis’ paintings are filled with a gentle lyricism. In them he captures the simplicity and poetry of the land around him. Medearis’ design sense was formed under the influence of Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood. Although the two had very different styles, Medearis found in their work absolutely true visions of the American landscape.”

The artist explained, “In the fall of 1938 I enrolled in the Kansas City Art Institute. I was eighteen. I knew nothing of the fine arts, but I knew that the Saturday Evening Post was filled with pictures I admired, and I wanted to learn to paint like Norman Rockwell.

“I soon discovered that America’s most celebrated artist at the time, Thomas Hart Benton, was teaching a class in an old greenhouse on the institute grounds. As a first-year student I wasn’t supposed to be admitted, but I found my way in nevertheless and was profoundly moved by what I saw there. Surrounded by his pupils, the diminutive artist stood before a huge canvas, his beautiful raven-haired model reclining on a red robe nearby. The scene was bathed in filtered sunlight. This is the highest art, I decided. I abandoned all thought of becoming a magazine illustrator.”

PROVENANCE
Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, Reno, Nevada, 2020
Private collection, Des Moines, Iowa

Additional Resources

• View Condition Report

Condition ReportSurface is in excellent condition. No signs of restoration.

Important Notice: Statements of condition are provided as a service to potential bidders; such statements are educated opinions and should not be regarded as facts. The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has no responsibility for any errors or omissions.