Bill Sawyer, Nashville Artist

BILL SAWYER ( NASHVILLE, TN 1936-2020)

Tempera on Masonite. 18”x 24”. Frame: 21"x 26 3/4". Title: Clarksville, Tenn. " I'm the only one of us children who stayed. " Title 2: Clarksville, Tennessee- Someday I might leave this place..."Bill Sawyer was a self-taught artist from Nashville, Tennessee/ He is said to have taken up painting while stationed in France in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. His first exhibition was in Nashville in May of 1959 and he went on to have one-man shows at Daniel Orr's Gallery in San Diego, the Little Gallery in Memphis, TN, and the Parthenon in Nashville. Joseph Patterson, then the president of the American Association of Museums, arranged for a show of Sawyer's work at the Durlacher Brothers Gallery in New York in 1964. 


Bill Sawyer Painting

BILL SAWYER (TENNESSEE, 1936-2020) HWY 70, LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON.

Bill Sawyer (Tennessee, 1936-2020). Title: “ Hwy 70, Late Sunday Afternoon.” Tempera on masonite, 16”x 20”. Frame 20” x 24”.

Bill Sawyer was a self-taught artist from Nashville, Tennessee/ He is said to have taken up painting while stationed in France in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. His first exhibition was in Nashville in May of 1959 and he went on to have one-man shows at Daniel Orr's Gallery in San Diego, the Little Gallery in Memphis, TN, and the Parthenon in Nashville. Joseph Patterson, then the president of the American Association of Museums, arranged for a show of Sawyer's work at the Durlacher Brothers Gallery in New York in 1964. 


Bill Sawyer Artist ( Tennessee 1936-2020)

Bill Sawyer ( Tennessee, 1936-2020) Tempera on Masonite. 18”x 24”. Girl in Pink Dress Flying a Kite.

Bill Sawyer was a self taught Nashville artist who started painting when stationed in France. His first exhibition was in Nashville in May of 1959 and he went on to have one-man shows at Daniel Orr’s Gallery in San Diego, the Little Gallery in Memphis, TN, and the Parthenon in Nashville. Joseph Patterson, then the president of the American Association of Museums, arranged for a show of Sawyer’s work at the Durlacher Brothers Gallery in New York in 1964. Sawyer was the first untrained artist to have a one-man show at the gallery, and his second show there, in 1966.

FREDERICK WEYGOLD (1870-1941) →

Frederick P. Weygold was born in St. Charles, Missouri in 1870, he studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and Germany. In 1914 he moved to Louisville, where he was very influential in the development of local art and artists. Weygold was very interested in the Sioux Tribe and amassed a vast collection of artifacts which he donated to the Speed Museum. He died in Louisville in 1941.

This rare painting shows Federal Hill, in 1920 before it was purchased by the state and became My Old Kentucky Home State Park. Federal Hill was built between 1795 and 1818 by Judge John Rowan. The Marquis de Lafayette, Stephen Foster, Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay all visited Judge Rowan at Federal Hill. Weygold was friends with Madge Rowan Frost (the last heir of Federal Hill Farm) and painted a series of these paintings to help raise awareness of the property and encourage the Commonwealth of Kentucky to purchase the property.

Typed inscription on back reads:

“ The Sun Shines Bright in the Old Kentucky Home”. Just a little reminder to Mary Alice and Irwin Gernert from Frieda and Frederick Weygold that the sun shines somewhere, even if it is gloomy in Nashville. Federal Hill near Bardstown, Ky as it appeared in the summer of 1920 before it became a state reservation. It was in this house, built in about 1800 (1818), that Stephen Foster wrote (in about 1859) America’s most beautiful folksong “My Old Kentucky Home.”



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Carl Christian Brenner Kentucky Artist Cherokee Park Winter Scene

CARL BRENNER LANDSCAPE

CARL CHRISTIAN BRENNER (AMERICAN/KENTUCKY 1838-1888)

Oil on Canvas. Signed Lower left, Carl C. Brenner. Dated 1886. Canvas: 26 1/4”x 14”. Frame: 34” x 22”.

A Kentucky Winter Landscape, a scene showing two large beech trees in the foreground of a snow covered landscape, likely Cherokee Park, Louisville. Superb original untouched condition with original gilded frame. This painting is exceptional in person with a realist effect, the viewer is drawn in to the the woods.

Carl Christian Brenner was born in Lauterecken, Bavaria, Germany in 1838, he went to public school in Bavaria and studied with Philip Frolig in Germany before emigrating to the United States at age 15. He first settled in New Orleans where he worked with his father as a glazer. By 1854 he was in Louisville, Kentucky where he worked as a sign and ornamental painter as well as a house painter. Brenner became a full time landscape painter around 1878, his favorite subject matter where beech trees and scenes of Cherokee park in Louisville and the Cumberland Mountains. Combining a range of styles including Tonalism, Realism and Romanticism his paintings were highly prized and collected during his lifetime, today his works can be found in both private and public collections including Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum, Speed Art Museum, Morris Museum of Art, The Corcoran Gallery of Art and The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, S.C.

Exhibited: Philadephia Exposition; National Academy of Desig, 1877-1886; Louisville Industrial Exposition, 1879; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, 1878, 1881-85.

Source: Who Was Who in American Art, Peter Falk.

Harvey Joiner (1852-1932) Cherokee Park, Louisville, Kentucky

We have added a classic Harvey Joiner Landscape oil painting of Cherokee Park, it is signed by Joiner and is in its original frame with name plaque.

 Harvey Joiner was born in Charleston, Indiana in 1852, he studied with David Hoffman in St. Louis and was active in Louisville from 1880 until his death in 1932. He was avery popular Louisvilleartist in his time and was well known for his Cherokee Park paintings.

This is a beautifully rendered work by the artist, note the wonderful reflections of the beech trees in the pond. Joiner used layers of glazes and contrasting light and dark colors to give his paintings that unmistakable “Joiner” style.

His works can be found in the following museums/collections:

The Filson Historical Society, Indiana State Museum, Kentucky Historical Society, Morris Museum of Art, The Johnston Collection and The Speed Art Museum. 

Harvey Joiner oil painting

Cherry Sugar Chest

I have added this Classic Cherry Sugar Chest to my inventory, its dimensions and form ( a dovetailed box on base) are sought after by collectors. It has its original divider as well as bread boards and perimeter molding along its top, another feature which I like is the small molding which separates the box from the base.

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Image of Sugar chest top showing bread boards (also know as battens) which help keep the single board top flat. Battens were attached with mortise and tenon joints the tenons would often prevent the top from shrinking over time and a crack would oft…

Image of Sugar chest top showing bread boards (also know as battens) which help keep the single board top flat. Battens were attached with mortise and tenon joints the tenons would often prevent the top from shrinking over time and a crack would often develop on the top (a good sign of age and originality.) You can see in this image that a small strip of wood was added to the front behind the molding to make up for the cross grain shrinkage.

Base of cherry sugar chest showing perimeter molding, note how the top piece of wood above the drawer is dovetailed in to the top of the front leg.

Base of cherry sugar chest showing perimeter molding, note how the top piece of wood above the drawer is dovetailed in to the top of the front leg.