Robert Larsen (1923-2002) American, 1963 Still Life Oil on Canvas. Shows three small rounded rocks (or potatoes) sitting on a reflective surface. Signed and dated '63 bottom middle. Small label on back from Sarasota framer. 

Overall Size: 17 x 21 in. 

Sight Size: 15 3/4 x 19 3/4 in. 

Robert Larsen was born in 1923 in Aurora, Illinois. Little is known about his youth, but he served in the U.S. Navy in World War II as a member of the 7th Beach Battalion and was one of the first to arrive on Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion. Upon returning to America in 1946 he studied at the Kansas City Institute of Art and Design on the GI Bill, followed by the Detroit School of the Society of Arts and Crafts in 1947. In 1950 he left the Midwest due to health issues from the War and wound up in Sarasota, Florida, where he enrolled at Ringling School of Art. He became well known for his individualistic vision of the Florida landscape, using Cubist and impressionist techniques to create an ephemeral world of hammocks rising like steamy islands from the misty swamp. After graduating from Ringling he wound up working for the Ringling Bros. Circus building props. In 1966 he joined the faculty of Ringling School, teaching figure painting and drawing there for twenty-four years. He spent the remainder of his life painting at his home in Siesta Key, where he died on July 5th, 2002. Most of his paintings can be found in Florida museums, with many of his props on display at the Circus Museum on the Ringling Museum of Art grounds.