Spring Song (Primary Title)
Paul Sample, American, 1896 - 1974 (Artist)
Set in the back corner of a tavern, this painting highlights a large man playing the piano. He appears unaware of the nearby bartender, who is listening intently to the music. This poignant scene in an unremarkable yet familiar setting is representative of Paul Sample’s style, which in turn is typical of American scene painters. Sample and his colleagues, including Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton, rejected the abstractions of European modernism, preferring to depict scenes of everyday American life. After its exhibition at New York’s 1939 World’s Fair, Spring Song remained on view for half a century at Manhattan’s famous 21 Club.
1939 - "American Art Today," New York World's Fair, NYC
1940 - "135th Annual Exhibition," no. 256, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine
Arts, PA
"Annual Exhibition," no. 186, Art Institute of Chicago
1941 - "Paul Sample Retrospective Exhibition," Carpenter Galleries, Dartmouth
College, Hanover, NH
"Paintings in Oil by Paul S. Sample," no. 3, Vose Galleries, Boston, MA
1948 - "Paul Sample Retrospective Exhibition," The Currier Gallery of Art,
Manchester, NH
1963 - "Paul Sample Retrospective," no. 6, Hopkins Center, The Jaffe-Friede
Gallery, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
1984 - "Paul Sample, Ivy League Regionalist," Lowe Art Museum, University of
Miami Florida, 1984
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
