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  FOLK PAINTING OF GEORGE WASHINGTON BY MICHIGAN BARBER CYRUS T. FUERY, SIGNED AND DATED 1917, EXHIBITED AT THE ABBY ALDRIDGE ROCKEFELLER FOLK ART MUSEUM, COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG, 1976
Dimensions (inches): work: 30.25" x 40.5", frame: 37" x 47.75" x 2"
Description:
If George Washington were painted by Andy Warhol for artwork that would appear on 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) and 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 and the large size of the canvas lends to a dramatic presentation.

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.

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 by then-curator Don Walters, the esteemed folk art expert and long-time antiques dealer.

Folk art dealer Tim Hill (Birmingham, MI) owned the work in the 1970's.

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

Condition: There are two small, patched repairs and a couple of other small areas with inpainting.
   
Primary Color: black, white, silver
Earliest Date: 1917
Latest Date: 1917
For Sale Status: Available
Price $36,000
E-mail: info@jeffbridgman.com
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