23: LOUIS FREUND (1905-1999) ARKANSAS REGIONALIST TOWN VIEW

Harry Louis Freund (1905-1999)
Below the Crescent Hotel (Circa 1930s)
The prototypical 1930s American Scene image of Regionalist identity depicts the stately and elegant Crescent Hotel above a time-worn and somewhat dilapidated neighborhood of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The work is signed lower right front and displayed in a nicely suited contemporary frame.

At about the time this picture was made, Louis Freund was, in his own words, working, 'As a Works Progress Administration painter in Arkansas in 1936 with a $40 Model T Ford and a grant of $76 a month for expenses, I drove to the Ozarks and Missouri and made pictures of a way of life which was rapidly disappearing. The works were sent to Washington to decorate government offices, and hospital rooms later.' The artist went on to recall of this period, 'Under government-sponsored competitions, I was awarded $20 per square foot to paint murals in small post offices in three states to commemorate local history.' Two of those murals he mentions were in Arkansas.

Later, from 1939 to 1946, he was a Resident Artist and then Art Department Head (1941-1946) at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. He also founded an artist colony and school in picturesque Eureka Springs.
Sight size measures 23.5 x 19.5 with a framed size of 31.5 x 27 inches.
Very good original untouched condition. There are no issues of major scratches, losses, repairs, in-painting or touch-up, confirmed under UV light examination.
$3,000 - $4,000