The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Barber Shop

Barber Shop

1934
(American, 1896–1974)
America, 20th century
oil on canvas
Framed: 92.7 x 118.8 x 6.4 cm (36 1/2 x 46 3/4 x 2 1/2 in.); Unframed: 73.7 x 101.6 cm (29 x 40 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 2001.124
Location: not on view

Description

Barber Shop is set in an establishment that Paul Sample patronized in Orleans, Vermont. It shows the spry, octogenarian proprietor, Mr. Bowman, shaving a gentleman with a straight-edge razor, while other customers concentrate on a game of billiards. At the time, barber shops were male gathering places. Lovingly rendered details, such as the still life of barber's implements beneath the mirror, the fisherman's creel on the wall, or the spittoon on the floor, all suggest the activities associated with the place and, if isolated, could serve as striking still-life compositions by themselves. Along with Thomas Hart Benton (1889–1973) and Grant Wood (1892–1942), Paul Sample was one of the major American Regionalist painters of the 1930s and early 1940s. The son of a construction engineer, Sample attended Dartmouth College and began to paint while recuperating from tuberculosis shortly after graduation. He studied first with Jonas Lie in New York and later with Millard Sheets in Pasadena, where he went in part for the benefits of the warm, dry climate. In 1928, Sample married Sylvia Howland and began to spend his summers in Vermont. In 1938, Dartmouth College appointed him Artist-in-Residence. He maintained a studio there for the rest of his career.
  • The artist; [Ferargil Galleries, New York, 1934 - 41]; [Associated American Artists, New York, 1941]; Jack and Charlie's "21," New York, by 1948
  • Miami, FL, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Paul Sample: Ivy League Regionalist (18 January - 26 February 1984), p. 6, 9, p. 25, ill. no. 16.
    Manchester, NH, The Currier Gallery of Art, Paul Sample Retrospective Exhibition (15 July - 15 September 1948), p. 11, no. 15; ill. no. 15; lent by Jack and Charlie's "21".
    Worcester, MA, Worcester Art Museum, A Decade of American Painting 1930 - 1940 (18 February - 22 March 1942), ill. p. 21; lent by Associated American Artists, Inc., New York.
    Boston, Vose Galleries, Paintings in Oil by Paul S. Sample (3 - 22 November 1941), no. 9 (no catalogue printed, information on a fold-over sheet).
    Philadelphia, PA, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 134th Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture (29 January - 5 March 1939), no. 277, ill. (unpaginated).
    Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, 48th Annual Exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture (18 November 1937 - 16 January 1938), no. 194.
    Pittsburgh, PA, Carnegie Institute, The 1936 International Exhibition of Paintings (15 October - 6 December 1936), cat. no. 39, pl. 7; awarded fourth honorable mention.
    (?) Pittsburgh, PA, Carnegie Institute, Carnegie Foundation World Tour (1934); see Paul Sample: Painter of the American Scene chronology p. 16 for reference.
    Ottawa, Canada, National Gallery of Canada, Exhibition of Contemporary Paintings by Artists of the United States (1934 - 35), cat. p. 17, ill. (unpaginated); lent by Ferargil Galleries; exhibition circulated in Canada by the National Gallery, Ottowa.
  • {{cite web|title=Barber Shop|url=false|author=Paul Sample|year=1934|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2001.124