WPA era, 1941 Regionalist / American Impressionist oil on canvas board entitled "A Vermont Farm" by Asheville (North Carolina) Art Museum Association artist Elizabeth Yarnall Luchars Urban (Am., b. 1885, Philadelphia, PA, d. 1976, Asheville, NC).
Painting signed and dated lower right "By Urban 1941", initialed lower left "EYU", Signed "Urban" upper left verso, and titled signed and dated verso "A Vermont Farm, Elizabeth Urban - '41". Unframed, standard size 16 x 20 inch painting in good, original untouched, uncleaned condition. I posted lots of pictures with biographical info, for reference - I have no hard copies as they're just internet screen shots.
On her mother's side, Elizabeth Urban was from one of the oldest Philadelphia families, the Yarnall family. She married an Episcopal reverend, Leigh Roy Urban. Their son, John Trexler Urban, was a very well known photographer who was based out of North Cambridge, Massachusetts. By 1948, Elizabeth Urban and her husband resided in Asheville, NC at 38 Lakewood Road. In 1955, they established the Memorial Garden at Grace Episcopal Church, 871 Merrimon Ave., Asheville, NC.
I posted some pictures from the internet regarding art exhibitions Elizabeth Urban showed her work in, down in Asheville, in the early 1960's. The group she was a Member of, the Asheville Art Museum Ass'n, included 44 artists in 1962. The Asheville Art Museum Ass'n is the same thing as The Ashville Art Museum. It was established by local artists in 1948, the same year in which Elizabeth Urban moved to Asheville. The painting offered here was done in 1941, during the WPA era (1935-1943), before the Asheville Art Museum came to be.
Back in the old days, it was customary for Philadelphia families (of means) to beat the heat in the summer and head up to New England where it's a little bit less hot. Depending on which they preferred, they'd go to Maine, New Hampshire or Vermont. Elizabeth and her family summered in Vermont.
Where they summered is: Greensboro, Orleans County, VT. This is where there was a summer artists colony (established in 1880). Greensboro is in what's called Vermont's "Northeast Kingdom". It's very close to Canada, NH, and Maine. Greensboro has a nine-hole golf course, Mountain View, since circa 1895, with views of the lake and Mount Mansfield. In the painting here, I'm fairly sure Mt. Mansfield is depicted on the horizon.
The artists colony called "Lake Caspian Summer Colony" was established at Caspian Lake. The Lakeview Inn, built in 1872 on Caspian Lake, served as one of the colony's major meeting points.
On the property at The Lakeview Inn, there was a house called "Lakeview House". In 1921,, Katharine P. Goss deeded 8/10 acre with "Lakeview House" to George and Maybelle Blair of St. Johnsbury, VT. In 1923, the Katharine P. Goss house north of the Lakeview was deeded to Alexander Luchars, then to Elizabeth Urban. Alexander Luchars was a major publisher and Elizabeth Urban's dad. He passed away in 1931. In any event, Elizabeth Urban owned some property and a house up there.
Elizabeth Urban was one of several painters and photographers who chose the Northwest part of Caspian Lake, called Campbell Corner, for their artistic creations. Elizabeth's son, John Urban, was a highly regarded photographer. As is the case with many artists from the Philadelphia area, including the best Pennsylvania Impressionist, Edward Redfield, Elizabeth Urban did her "summer's work" up in New England. This way, the artists had paintings that were nice and dry and ready to show during the cold, winter months.
I'm from NJ and I've never explored the Asheville NC area, but I think it looks very much like the area of Vermont where Elizabeth Urban liked to paint in the summertime. In the pictures I've seen, the Blue Ridge Mountains look so beautiful. Well, whether interested in Asheville or Vermont artists, this painting by Elizabeth Urban would be a nice choice to add to the collection. Even though she painted nice American landscapes for decades, Urban's paintings rarely surface on the market.