biografía de Henry Varnum POOR (1887-1970)

Lugar de nacimiento: Chapman, KS

Lugar de defunción: probably New City, Rockland County, NY

Direcciones: Kansas City, MO, 1913; San Francisco, CA, 1914-19; Rockland County, NY, 1919-on

Profesión: Painter, mural painter, illustrator, craftsperson, lithographer

Estudios: Stanford Univ. (A.B., 1910); Slade Sch., London with Walter Sickert; Académie Julian, Paris with Laurens, 1911

Exposiciones: PAFA Ann., 1913-14, 1927-66 (gold for best portrait, 1951); Pan.-Pac. Expo, 1915; San Francisco AA, 1918 (prize); NAD; AIC, 1932 (prize); CI, 1934 (prize); WMAA, 1932-53; Corcoran Gal biennials, 1935-59 (11 times); Rehn Gal., NYC, 1961 (solo), 1964 (solo).

Asociaciones: NA, 1963; San Francisco AA; San Francisco Soc. A.; Calif. AC; AEA; NIAL

Obra: MMA; MoMA; WMAA; PMG; NIAL; SFMA; CGA; CMA; Columbus Mus. A.; AGAA; BM; Newark Mus.; PMA; Kansas City AI; Wichita Art M., Kansas; LACMA; Dallas Mus. FA; WMA; San Diego Mus.; frescoes, Dept. Justice and Dept. of Interior Bldg., Wash., DC (WPA project); The Land Grant Frescoes," Pennsylvania State Univ.; "Kentucky," lobby, Courier-Journal Bldg., Louisville, KY; ceramic mural, Mt. Sinai Hospital; ceramic mural, exterior H.S., Flushing, NY; Traveler's Ins. Bldg., Boston; Deerfield Acad., MA. "

Comentarios: Realist painter and muralist. His early career was spent primarily as a designer and craftsperson. After moving to Rockland County, NY, in 1919 he designed and built his home/studio Crow House" and focused on the applied arts, gaining popularity for his painted pottery and handcrafted bathrooms during the 1920s. Poor returned to painting in 1929, traveling to the Mediterranean and to Paris and producing a group of paintings that brought him high praise when exhibited in NYC (1931). During the 1930s Poor ventured into fresco painting, gaining major mural commissions as a WPA artist. His easel paintings, whether of lone individuals or landscapes, are expressive in brushwork and often somber in mood. Poor was the founder and first president of the Skowhegan (Maine) School of Painting and Sculpture. Other positions: teacher, Mark Hopkins AI (1917-19), Stanford, Columbia. Author/illus., "Artist Sees Alaska," 1945; "A Book of Pottery," 1958; illustrator, Jack London's "Call of the Wild" (Limited Editions Club).

Fuentes: WW66; WW47; P&H Samuels, 377; 300 Years of American Art, 828; Baigell, Dictionary; Falk, Exh. Record Series.