A Sheep Fold

Painted by Frank Townsend Hutchens
American Artist 1869 to 1937
Painted at the sheep fold of Mon Dusannoir
Pas de Calais, Northern France
Signed F.T. Hutchens

I am in my sixties now, and I have treasured this painting all my life. I remember how my grandfather instructed me to view it as a small child. I would look at it closely, at all the indiscernible splashes of paint. Then back up across the room to see it transform into a picture of a flock of sheep.

My mother remembers that my grandfather knew the artist, but we are not sure whether they met in the United States or Europe. It could have been on one of my grandfather's trips to Europe as an adult, or perhaps on a trip to Europe when he was attending "finishing school." We believe that my grandfather purchased the painting at an exhibit at the Hotel Ohio in Youngstown in February 1915.

There is a note on the back of the painting which begins with the title, A Sheep Fold, and ends with the artist's initials, FTH:

Painted by Frank T. Hutchens in North France at Trepied Pas de Calais in the sheep fold of Mon Dusannoir whose old farm is one of the most beautiful and historical in that part of France.

The spelling of Dusannoir is unsure because there is a hole in the note where the letters "oi" appear. The back of the frame is marked Paris, France.

Contact:  ASheepFold@DirtypawWebsites.com