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Horse in a Landscape

Creator: MARY JANE PERNO
Offered by: David A. Schorsch - Eileen M. Smiles Fine Americana

Description
MARY JANE PERNO (1834-1902)
Horse in a Landscape
Probably Randolph, Vermont, circa 1850
Pastel on paper, 20 ½ x 29 ¾ inches, in period oak frame
Signed lower left: “Painted by Mary J. Perno”

This pastel portrait of a prancing horse in a lush landscape is ascribed to Mary Jane Perno, born in Randolph, Vermont, the daughter of an innkeeper Asa Burbank Perno (1810–1856) and Mary Adeline Strong (born 1813). Sometime between 1850 and 1860, the Perno family relocated to Northfield, Vermont, where Asa kept an inn. Mary Jane attended school in Northfield. An October 7, 1852, newspaper reported the teenage Mary Jane had received an award for a “specimen of monochromatic painting.” She was married August 15, 1855, to Lyman Frederick Hodges (b.1828), the son of a merchant from Massachusetts. In 1857, the couple moved to Milwaukee, where Lyman would achieve much success as a businessman in the grain commission business, retiring in 1889 with a comfortable fortune. Family history noted that his wife was a fine musician and devoted much of her time to music and art. In the Milwaukee fire of 1892, their handsome residence was completely destroyed, and with it much of the most valuable private collection in the city of pictures, laces, and bric-a-brac. The couple is listed in the 1900 census living in Summit, Wisconsin, with their young niece and three servants. Mary Jane Perno Hodges died in 1902 and is buried in the Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee.

The scale and quality of this pastel drawing make it a rarity in the history of American folk art. The artist was skilled in the pastel techniques of sgraffito, creating highlights and scumbling to blend colors and create texture. The sense of motion in this drawing is extraordinary, the horse trots through a lush meadow that appears to be blowing in the wind. The artist, likely a schoolgirl at the time, was influenced by her knowledge of needlework sampler compositions in her manipulation of perspective and scale. The houses and figures in the background reveal her exposure in school to engravings of landscapes for copying.

More Information

Documentation:	Signed
Period:	19th Century
Creation Date:	1850
Styles / Movements:	Other
Incollect Reference #:	815646

Dimensions

W.	29.75 in;	H.	20.5 in;
W.	75.57 cm;	H.	52.07 cm;

Message from Seller:

David A. Schorsch and Eileen M. Smiles are nationally recognized dealers in American antiques and folk art, specializing in weathervanes, folk paintings, Shaker furniture, and more. With over forty years of experience, they offer expert services in private and corporate collections, authentication, and auction representation—contact them today at 203.263.3131 or via email at contact@schorsch-smiles.com.