Is this artist famous?

The Twins: Virginia and Jane, 1917, Joseph T. Pearson, Jr. (American), 1876 - 1951, Oil on canvas, H. 60 x W. 72 inches, James A. Michener Art Museum, Gift of Oliver Pearson.

Many people have never heard of Joseph Pearson. In the 1920’s and 1930’s, there was a Depression in America. Many people were out of work, and most people did not have extra money to buy art with. Collecting American art became unfashionable, and many institutions sold their American works to purchase art made by famous Europeans. In addition, the modern art styles became popular, so artists like Pearson who painted in a traditional style were ignored. In addition, Pearson did not create a huge body of work in his lifetime (in comparison, Van Gogh created over 900 paintings and 1100 drawings in ten years, and Picasso is in the Guinness Book of World Records for making over 147,800 works of art in his lifetime). He was busy teaching college and working on his homestead in Huntington Valley, and did not solely dedicate his life to making art. Lastly, Pearson’s art was all very big – and many people were not able to purchase his art because the walls in their houses were not large enough to hold his paintings!

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