51

DALE NICHOLS
American (1904-1995)
"Waiting for Spring"
oil on canvas, signed lower left "Dale Nichols"
30 x 40 inches

Provenance: Sotheby's, New York, June 2, 1983, lot 246; Shannon's, Milford, Connecticut, October 28, 2010, lot 71; Private Collection, Connecticut.

Other Notes:
"Farm life was all I knew for the first 20 years of my life. In painting these canvases, I felt again the vastness of endless skies, experienced again the penetrating cold of Nebraska winters, lived again as farmers live …in spirit, I am very much a farmer," Dale Nichols.

Dale Nichols was born in rural David City, Nebraska in 1904. His early life had a profound influence on his paintings which centered on the recreations of the farm life. The search for pure American Art was growing and the public was interested in scenes of American life. Nichols emerged as an artist when Regionalism and Rural Regionalism were growing as a collecting genre. His paintings are classified as a succession from Grant Wood, Thomas Hart Benton, and John Steuart Curry.

Nichols studied in Chicago at the Academy of Fine Arts and the Art Institute with Carl Wentz. He became a successful illustrator, watercolorist, designer, writer, lecturer, block-printer, and painter. In the 1930s and 40s he created artwork for direct-mail industrial advertising. From 1942-1948 he succeeded Grant Wood as art editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica. During his career, he had eighteen solo exhibitions and exhibited in more that eighty regional and national exhibitions.

Waiting for Spring depicts a farmer holding a shovel, looking out at the vast, snowy horizon. His posture toward the sun and the tractor in the foreground hint at a longing for warmer weather. This Nebraska farm scene is painted in Nichols' characteristic Regionalist style.

In 2012, the Bone Creek Museum of Art organized a traveling retrospective exhibition, Dale Nichols: Transcending Regionalism. This exhibition cemented Nichols as the fourth American Regionalist alongside Wood, Benton, and Curry. Nichols' work has been avidly collected in numerous public and private collections throughout the country as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Tags: oil painting, regionalism / regionalist, snow scene, winter scene, barn, tractor, 20th century


  • Condition: Canvas: Lined
    Condition: Very Good
    Restoration: Very Minor
    Frame: Antique
    Comments:
    Varnish has yellowed

    Framed dimensions - 37 1/2 x 47 5/8 x 3 inches


    In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Shannon's is merely a subjective qualified opinion. Frames on all paintings are sold "As Is". Frames may need some conservation.

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