Lot 6: DAVID GILMORE BLYTHE(Footnote 1) (1815-1865) On the Sly

signed "Blythe," l.l.- -oil on canvas 26 5/8 x 21 1/4 in. (67.5 x 54.2 cm.) PROVENANCE John Swanson, Chicago George David Thompson, Pittsburgh Newhouse Galleries, New York William H. Vodrey, East Liverpool, Ohio Steve Martin, Los Angeles EXHIBITED Youngstown, Ohio, The Butler Institute of American Art, "An Exhibition of the Work of David G. Blythe," Oct. 1947, as "The School Boy" Washington, D.C., National Collection of Fine Arts, "The World of David Gilmore Blythe," Oct. 1980-Jan. 1981, p. 43, no. 106, illus. (this exhibition traveled to Rochester, University of Rochester, Feb.-Mar. 1981; Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, May-July 1981) LITERATURE D. Miller, "The Life and Work of David G. Blythe," Pittsburgh, 1950, p. 44; 61; 130, illus. This painting was executed "circa" 1857-18599. Blythe painted a large number of urchins, a theme popular with painters and illustrators of the time. Dorothy Miller considered the present painting as one of his best efforts in the genre: "There are two paintings of little schoolboys which are more maturely painted than any of the other urchin paintings... In "On the Sly" the same type of round-faced youngster sits before his desk. He has raised a United States Spelling Book to the side of his face to hide his munching of a piece of raisin bread. One elbow rests on a paper-backed book. On the desk are an inkwell, his lunch basket, and his hat." (Miller, p. 61) The Property of A CORPORATE COLLECTOR See footnote 1 for this sale.