Sarah Blakeslee (American, 1912-2005), Harvest and Hammer

Oil on canvas, signed at lower left and lower right, inscribed with the artist's name to the verso, illegible stamp to verso, presented in a handsome hardwood frame with gilt filet.

Stretcher size 24 1/4 x 30 in.; Frame dimensions 30 3/4 x 36 1/4 in.

From the Collection of the late Jane Gregory Marrow Reed, Tarboro, North Carolina

Born in Evanston, Illinois, Sarah Blakeslee began formal art training at the Art Institute of Chicago at age thirteen. After her family moved to Washington, D.C., she studied at the Corcoran School of Art and Miss Catherine Critcher's School of Art. In the early 1930s, she attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where she received the Cresson Traveling Scholarship twice. There she met painter Francis Speight, whom she married and with whom she maintained a lifelong artistic partnership.

In 1961, the couple moved to Greenville, North Carolina, where Speight served as artist-in-residence at East Carolina University. Blakeslee's mature work drew inspiration from the light and landscape of eastern North Carolina, demonstrating keen observation and strong compositional sense.

Blakeslee exhibited widely throughout her career at venues including the Art Institute of Chicago, Corcoran Gallery of Art, National Academy of Design, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, North Carolina Museum of Art, and the 1939 World's Fair in San Francisco. Her work is held in public collections including the Greenville Museum of Art, North Carolina Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Cameron Art Museum, National Academy of Design, and The Johnson Collection.

Good estate condition; no evidence of retouch visible under UV light.