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FRANK H. SWEET – WINTER LUMBER HARVEST

Artist: Frank H. Sweet – American, 1865 -1918
Signed: Lower Right ” F. H. Sweet ”
Medium: Oil on Board

Frank H. Sweet

Frank H. Sweet was born in Middleville, N Y, about 10 miles north of Mohawk. As a youth his right side was permanently paralyzed by an overdose of medicine. He was taken to school in a cart. In later life he was a teacher & after his marriage in 1890 was a grocery store clerk (bookkeeper) in Glens Falls, NY. He had taught himself to get around laboriously with canes or crutches. Following the bankruptcy of the store in 1906 and his divorce the following year, Sweet moved back to the Mohawk Valley. At some point he became an itinerant artist for a living, getting buggy rides from the family he lived with and painting or sketching from the buggy, using his left hand. He stayed in an area generally bounded by ( Dolgeville & Salisbury to east – Ilion & Mohawk to the west )
Sweet stayed with families for a period of time, in one instance more than five years with the Kibbe Family. Will Kibbe acted as his agent, marketing Sweet’s Oils. He did local farms on commission for a fee of $ 10. per painting, and also did imaginary scenes. He worked chiefly on academy board although a few pieces exist on wood, stoneware bottle and even a frying pan. He only worked in oils. His painting were signed according to how he felt about them. A few are unsigned. Those he felt were not great were signed ” F.S. ” or ” F.H.S.” . Those he most liked were signed ” F.H. Sweet “.
In the Folk Art Collection – New York State Historical Association there is a painting together with several of his brushes and a broadside for sale of his work.

Image – Height: 18 3/4″, Width: 24 ½”
Original untouched condition
Contemporary Frame – Height: 23 3/4″, Width: 29 3/4″

Inventory: A-F-3213

SOLD

★ Inquiries: LoweryAntiques@twcny.rr.com or call / text 315-638-1329

FRANK H. SWEET – New York State Folk Painter

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