"Five Men and Wood Stove" by Sperry Andrews, Amer., (1917-2005)

Gouache, ca. 1942, 7 x 10, signed with initials l. r. verso and notated "31/42 " penciled ref. span 9143", top verso, on textured cream wove watercolor paper. The theme of figures huddled around a toasty wood stove for simple warmth and comfort had great appeal for Sperry Andrews in the bleak and frigid climate of Iceland as he endured the loneliness and privation of wartime service. Returning home and eventually acquiring the home and studios of J. Alden Weir and Mahonri Young at Weir Farm, in Ridgefield and Wilton, CT; he was delighted by the presence of wood stoves in each of the studios there, which provided the subject for many paintings and drawings over his nearly five decades of residence. Together with his artist wife Doris, Sperry was the third generation in an unbroken 120 year tradition of occupancy by working artists at this beautiful place, so vital to the history of American Impressionism, which is now Connecticut's National Park.