john-jack-savitsky-american-1910-1991-birds-three-paintings
Lot 584
John 'Jack' Savitsky (American, 1910-1991), Birds (three paintings)
Lot Details & Additional Photographs
The first an oil on board, signed and dated 1965 at upper right, depicting a blue bird with a worm, mounted and framed (Frame dimensions 11 3/4 x 9 3/4 in.); the second a Perma pen marker on paper, signed and dated 1981 at lower right, inscribed "Good Morning" at lower left, depicting a rooster crowing with a village scene beyond, framed under Plexiglass (Frame dimensions 12 3/4 x 10 in.); and the third a Perma pen on paper, signed and dated 1988 at lower right, titled "Blue Heron" at lower left, framed under Plexiglass (Frame dimensions 14 1/2 x 12 in.).

Private Collection, Raleigh, North Carolina

John Savitsky, also known as "Coal Miner Jack," was a coal miner around Lansford, Pennsylvania for over forty years. During his free time, he would paint signs for windows and trucks, as well as murals for local speakeasies. He was diagnosed with "black lung" in his fifties, and since he could no longer work in the mines, he took to painting full time. His work is in numerous public and private collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

Light fading to works on paper; not examined out of the frames. Small scuff marks to oil painting.