This delicate, atmospheric plein air landscape is said to have been the first painting acquired by Sharp’s Montana friend and patron Charles Bair. More probable an explanation, however, comes from Sharp’s sales ledgers. Referred to there in September 1906 as a "Small Night" scene "for Mr. Bair" which sold to his patron for $125, it had been included in an exhibition in Billings at the time and came into Bair’s hands having been purchased from that show. (Sharp Papers) In a letter from Sharp to his Cincinnati friend, Joseph Henry Gest, the artist boasted that "I sold quite a number at my Ex. in Billings, Mont." This appears to have been one of those sales.
Winter Scene
Alternate Title:
Small Night (scene)
Record ID: 315
Date: ca. 1905; [1903]
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 18 x 27 in.
Signature / Inscription: LR: J.H.SHARP
Owner: Bair Family Museum, Martinsdale, MT
Provenance:
The artist; Charles Bair, Billings, MT, 1906; Bair family by descent; present owner
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