Bidspirit auction | Jackson Lee Nesbitt (1913-2008)

Jackson Lee Nesbitt (1913-2008) - JACKSON LEE NESBITT (1913-2008) 1941 EGG TEMPERA /BOARD. Jackson Lee Nesbitt (1913-2008) Old Chris 1941 The egg tempera on board, painted during classes at the Kansas City Art Institute around 1941, is signed lower right front. This composition was also the subject of an etching made by Jack Nesbitt. During Thomas Hart Benton's tenure at the KCAI, instructors and students would recruit interesting locals to sit as class models. Benton speaks to this in Creekmore Fath's catalog raisonne as follows. 'This old black man was picked up by one of my students on East 18th St in Kansas City and was persuaded to come to my class at the Kansas City Art Institute to pose.' That man's name was Aaron and he appears in a painting and a lithograph by Benton. Similarly, the subject of this painting posed for Benton's class, and appears to have been a familiar presence on campus. He was depicted in at least three works by Jackson Lee Nesbitt, a painting by fellow student Eric Bransby, one by his wife, Mary Ann Hemmie, and others. Most likely, the wizened, mustachioed old man with a violin in KCAI instructor John De Martelley's 1939 lithograph Two Old Toms is the same model. An interesting local character whose name and life story went unknown until now. Christian J. Gove, 'Old Chris', was born in Linn, Missouri in 1863. Real estate transfers confirm him in KC by the 1890s. He made his living as a carpenter building boxcars for the Frisco Line and Kansas City Terminal Railway. Where playing the violin comes in is not known. But when Art Institute students, Nesbitt included, marched on campus to protest Benton's firing, Old Chris was there too, playing his fiddle in solidarity. During the protest, a short scuffle broke out over a sign being pulled down. Peace restored, Old Chris remarked to a reporter, 'They're usually a hard working bunch of painters.' In 1950, Christian J. Gove , 'the sitter with the fabulous nose', as art historian Marianne Berardi called him, passed away at the age of 87. Board measures 8.5 x 7.25 with a framed size of 14.5 x 13 inches. Without proof of exemption, be aware that internet sales tax applies to all Internet transactions and local sales tax may apply to local pick-up transactions. We happily provide seamless in-house packing and shipping services on nearly everything we sell. Until further notice, we cannot offer international shipping in-house. Dimensions Board measures 8.5 x 7.25 with a framed size of 14.5 x 13 inches. Condition Very good original untouched condition. There are no scratches, losses, chips, lifting of medium, craquelure, repairs, in-painting or touch-up as confirmed under UV light.