Thomas R. Curtin (1899-1977) American, Springtime Farm Scene Oil on Canvas. Beautiful farmstead in vibrant colors. Signed bottom left. Marked on stretcher "From the Thomas R. Curtin Estate" and numbered 117. 

Overall Size: 27 3/4 x 31 3/4 in. 

Sight Size: 19 1/2 x 23 1/2 in. 

#6819 . 

Thomas R. Curtin was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on November 15th, 1899. He received his early education in the Pittsfield Public School System under the tutelage of George H. Dennison, who recognized his artistic potential. He became a mentor and later close friend to Curtin, inspiring him to work in oils on canvas. Curtin studied at the National Academy of Design and the Art Student League of New York, and later at the Vesper George School in Boston. While at the Art Students League, he was a student of John F. Carlson, with whom he formed another lifelong friendship that continued with weekend painting trips until Carlson’s untimely death in the 1940s. He ran in the same circles as many New England artists like W. M. Lester Stevens, Aldro T. Hibbard, Emile Gruppe, and George Gardner Symons, sometimes painting the same location alongside them. He replaced Dennison as the Art Instructor in the Pittsfield School System for a time, with summers spent in Gloucester or Rockport, Massachusetts. In 1943 he moved to Vermont with Carlson and Gruppe, where most of the subject matter that he drew inspiration from the rest of his life originated. Carlson’s death affected him deeply, and he returned to Massachusetts and his position in the school system there. Though he never married and lived an extremely private life, he had both an artistic and friendly impact on all the artists he interacted with, creating an unofficial group that continued to meet each summer and travel throughout New England, seeking new vistas to capture. As a member of countless art associations in New England he exhibited at the North Shore Arts Association in the 1930s, the Pittsfield Art League (where he also served as president), the Berkshire Artist’s Association, the Rockland Artist’s Association, and the Southern Vermont Artists Association. He retired from  his teaching position in 1957 and moved to Jeffersonville, Vermont. Here he opened a gallery in Cambridge and devoted the remaining years of his life portraying the effects of the four seasons on the small rural community. In 1977 he returned to Pittsfield, Massachusetts due to some health concerns, where he died in his sleep on May 6th, 1977.