Images(2)

The Weary Sheepherder

Artist Ernest Martin Hennings (American, 1886 - 1956)

Dateprior to 1946

Mediumoil on canvas

Dimensions36 × 40 inches (91.4 × 101.6 cm)
Frame: 41 1/2 × 45 1/2 × 2 1/4 inches (105.4 × 115.6 × 5.7 cm)

Credit LinePartial Bequest of H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1965 and Partial Gift of Nelda C. Stark, 1975

Object number31.32.33

ClassificationsPaintings

Label TextHennings explored the subject of shepherds in a series of paintings. The solitary herdsman in the landscape provided the artist with complex content. In The Weary Sheepherder, the artist portrays the Hispanic worker with melancholy. The shepherd is the single human figure in the landscape of seemingly endless sheep. Hennings conveys the reality of sheepherding, which involved remote isolation for long periods of time. The figure evokes fatigue and loneliness in the tedium of his daily work. Yet the artist also depicts him with inherent dignity.

ProvenanceArtist; purchased April 23, 1952 by H.J. Lutcher Stark [1887-1965]; ½ interest bequeathed September 2, 1965 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation [1]; remaining ½ interest gifted December 5, 1975 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation by Nelda C. Stark [1909-1999]; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art | 1. Owned jointly by H.J. Lutcher Stark and Nelda C. Stark until his death at which point his ½ interest was bequeathed to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation.

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