Best known as one of the Regionalist painters of the American Scene, John Steuart Curry was born on a farm in Dunavant, Kansas, where his mother introduced him to art through reproductions of the old masters.  He was soon on his way to Kansas City to study in the Art Institue, and later, the Art Institue of Chicago.  After a time working as an illustrator, Curry found the funds to travel to Paris, the place for all earnest young artists to study.  Upon his return to America, Curry’s first painting, “Baptism in Kansas,” was purchased by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who became his patron.  Curry spent the later years of his life painting commissions across the country, many of which were sponsored by the Works Progress Administration.  His subjects reflected the experiences of his early farm life.

(Dunavant, Kansas, 1897 – 1946, Wisconsin)