Paul Sample was an acclaimed New England regionalist, whose artworks focused on rural and small town settings. His interest in portraying communities and interpersonal dynamics also marked his work as characteristic of Social Realism.
Sample was born in 1896 as the son of a construction engineer who relocated the family frequently. After years of moving across the United States, Sample attended high school in Glencoe, Illinois. He entered Dartmouth College in 1916, and enlisted in the Naval Reserve during World War I. His artistic interests began to flourish while he was undergoing treatment for tuberculosis in Sarnac Lake, New York. Landscape artist Jonas Lie, whose wife was undergoing treatment at the same facility, served as his instructor.
In 1925 Sample arrived in New York City, and took a course in commercial art at the Greenleaf Art School. After relocating to California, he entered the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. His talent earned him a teaching position at the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture, and he later served as chair of the art department. He also taught night classes at the Chouinard School of Art.
Sample began exhibiting in 1931 at the Macbeth Gallery, followed by shows at Stendahl Galleries. As his career grew, his work showed in Boston through Grace Horne Galleries and Vose Galleries. He became involved with the Associated American Artists, who exhibited his work in New York City. He additionally earned features in Magazine of Art and Art News.
Sample became involved in several federally funded mural projects during the 1930s. Working alongside Mexican social realist David Alfaro Siqueiros and other artists, he produced a mural for the Chouinard Art School sculpture court. Sample also gained recognition as a contributor to numerous periodicals. In 1934 he accepted his first assignment from Fortune magazine, and during the 1940s was featured in Esquire, Country Gentleman, American Artist, and Life. Sample died in 1974, and continued to sketch and paint in his final days.
Written by Zenobia Grant Wingate
Chronology
1896 Paul Sample born in Louisville, Kentucky on the 14th of September
1916 Enrolls at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
1917 Enlists in the Naval Reserve when United States enters World War I
1921 Graduates from Dartmouth
Contracts tuberculosis visiting brother in sanatorium at Saranac Lake, New York
1923 Studies drawing and painting from artist Jonas Lie
1925 Cured of tuberculosis
Goes to Art School in New York City with funds from Veteran’s Bureau
Attends dying brother in California
Stays in California and enrolls in Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles
1926 Joins faculty of the School of Architecture at USC
1932 Stendhal Galleries in Los Angeles accepts Sample's work for exhibition
1934 Receives first of many commissions from Fortune Magazine
Time Magazine ranks Sample as one of American’s most important living painters
1935 Chief of the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture commission
1936 Awarded Honorary Masters of Art degree from Dartmouth College
Granted sabbatical from USC, travels to Europe
1937 Metropolitan Museum of Art purchases Janitor’s Holiday
1938-62 Appointed artist-in-residence at Dartmouth College
1941 Elected academician by the National Academy of Design
1942 Work featured in Esquire, Country Gentlemen, and American Artist
1944 Accepts assignment as artist-correspondent for Life magazine on U.S.S. Portland
1952 Begins assignments for Ford Times, published by the Ford Motor Company
1956 Joins the Milch Galleries in New York City
1957 Begins mural for the Hanover Inn in Hanover, New Hampshire
1959-61 Commissioned to paint mural for National Life Insurance Company Montpelier, VT; suffers heart attack, which delays completion until 1961
1962 Honorary Doctorate of Humane letters, Dartmouth College
1964-65 Paints Saturn rocket launch for NASA
Mural commission from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
1973 Completes commission from EPA
1974 Dies of a heart attack on February 26th
Awards
1926 Special Award of Honor, Exhibition at Springville Museum of Art, Springville, Utah: Moored Fishing Boats
1929 First Prize, Santa Monica Art Association Exhibition: Boats
1930 The Keith-Spaulding Prize, California Art Club
First Prize, Exhibition at Los Angeles Museum of Art
Honorable Mention for Landscape, 43rd Annual Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture, Art Institute of Chicago
1931 Second Hallgarten Prize, 106th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York: Dairy Rounds
1932 Isador Gold Medal, 107th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, N.Y. Unemployment First Prize Marine Painting, Pasadena Art institute
1934 First Prize, Laguna Beach Museum of Art, First Art Association: Unemployment
1936 Temple Gold Medal, 13th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia: Miners Resting
Honorable Mention, The International Exhibition of Paintings, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh: Barber Shop
1940 Prize for Excellence, Contemporary Art of the United States, IBM Corporation exhibition, New World's Fair: Going to Town
1941 Elected academician by the National Academy of Design.
Prize for Excellence in Watercolor, The Lotus Club, New York
1942 Worcester Art Museum: Barber Shop
1947 Special Award, 122nd Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, N.Y. Field Hospital in a Church Purchase Prize, Pepsi-Cola Competition: Sharon's Sleigh Ride
1960 Henry Ward Ranger Fund Purchase Prize, 135th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York: Recuerdos de un Viejo II
1962 First Benjamin Altman Prize for Landscape Painting in Oil, 137th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York: Port-au-Prince Marketplace
1963 Century Association Medal: Jacob's Journey into Egypt
1967 Henry Ward Ranger Fund Purchase Prize, 142nd Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York: Still Life with Whistler
1969 Century Association Gold Medal: Northeast Kingdom
Solo Exhibitions
1927 Pasadena Art Institute
1934 Feragil Galleries, New York
1935 Carpenter Art Galleries, Dartmouth College
1937 Feragil Galleries, New York
Courvoisier Galleries, San Francisco
1941 Carpenter Art Galleries, Dartmouth College
Robert Hull Fleming Museum, University of Vermont, Burlington Vose Galleries, Boston Feragil galleries, New York
1942 The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
1946 Vose Galleries, Boston
1948 The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire
1949 Archives of American Art Gallery (AAA), New York
1951 J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky
Vose Galleries, Boston
1956 Robert Hull Fleming Museum, University of Vermont, Burlington
The Bronson Museum, Attleboro, Massachusetts
1958 Milch Galleries, New York
1960 Southern Vermont Art Center, Manchester
1963 Retrospective Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College
Milch Galleries, New York
1964 Nasson College
1967 New Hampshire Art Association, Concord
1968 Southern Vermont Art Center, Manchester
1970 Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center
Van der Straeten gallery, New York
1972 – 1973 Capricorn Galleries, Bethesda, Maryland
1984 Paul Sample: Ivy League Regionalist, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
1988 Retrospective Hood Museum Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
1997 Gerold Wunderlich & Co. in association with The Caldwell Gallery, New York
Group Exhibitions
1926 Three-man faculty exhibition at University of Southern California
1930 12th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings, Corcoran Gallery of Art,Washington, D.C.
Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo)
105th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
Art Institute of Chicago
1931 126th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
Art Institute of Chicago
1932 Stendahl Galleries, Los Angeles
Macbeth Gallery, New York
45th Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, Art Institute of Chicago
127th Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
1933 13th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
128th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
American Painting of Today, Worcester Art Museum
1934 129th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
Carnegie Foundation World Tour
A Century of Progress Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, Art Institute of Chicago
1935 14th Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
110th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
14th International Watercolor Exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago
1936 Second Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors, and Prints, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
47th Annual Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture, Art Institute of Chicago
15th International Watercolor Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
1937 112th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
132nd Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
1937 International Exhibition of Paintings, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
1938 First Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings, Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond
1938 International Exhibition of Paintings, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
133rd Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
113th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
1939 American Art Today, New York City World's Fair
Golden Gate International Exposition, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco
1939 International Exhibition of Paintings, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
Philadelphia Watercolor Show, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
10th Biennial International Watercolor Exhibition, Brooklyn Museum
1940 13th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Pennsylvania
Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
19th International Watercolor Exhibition, Art Institute of Chicago
Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, Whitney Museum of American Art
Second Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings, Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond
115th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
Mural Designs for Federal Buildings, National Gallery of Canada
Golden Gate International Exposition, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco
1941 136th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
17th Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Painting, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Contemporary Painting in the United States, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors, Drawings, and Prints, Whitney Museum of American Art
America Yesterday and Today, Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey
35th Annual Exhibition of American Painting, Saint Louis Art Museum
15th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
1942 117th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
1943 Painting in the United States, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
1944 139th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
1945 Painting in the United States, 1945, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
1946 Painting in the United States, 1946, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
1947 142nd Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
Painting in the United States, 1947, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
1948 Painting in the United States, 1948, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
1949 144th Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
Painting in the United States, 1949, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
1950 Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Painting, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
American Painting Today, Metropolitan Museum of Art
125th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
1951 American Watercolor Society Exhibition, National Academy of Design, NY
22nd Biennial Exhibition, Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C
1952 127th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
1954 129th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
1956 131st Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York1959 134th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
Century Association, New York
1960 135th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
155th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
2nd Biennial Exhibition of American Painting and Sculpture, Detroit Institute of Arts
1963 138th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
1964 139th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
1965 The Centennial of the American Watercolor Society, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
1969 American Paintings of Ports and Harbors, 1774-1968, Cummer Gallery of Art and Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences
American Watercolor Society Exhibition, National Academy of Design, NY
1971 141st Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York
Memberships
California Art Club: President (1931)
California Watercolor Society
American Watercolor Society
National Academy (1940)
New Hampshire Art Association
Pasadena Art Association
Honors
1936 Honorary Master of Arts Degree, conferred by Dartmouth College
1937 Elected to associate membership in The National Academy of Design
1939 Juror for National Midyear Show of The Butler Institute of American Art
1940 Served on jury of awards for Second Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond
Selection jury for 1940 New Year Show at The Butler Institute of American Art
1941 Elected to full membership in the National Academy of Design
Served on the jury of the 136th Annual Exhibition of The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
1942 Served on the jury for Artists for Victory exhibition at Metropolitan Museum of Art
1943 Jury member for 118th Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, N.Y.
1946 Jury member at New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT
1947 Jury for Painting in the United States, 1947, The Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh
1949 Jury Chairman 21st Biennial Exhibition of American Painting, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Selection jury for American Painting Today at Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.
1952 Jury member for National Academy of Design's 127th Annual Exhibition
1954 Jury member at Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts
1962 Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, conferred by Dartmouth College
Public Collections
Works by this artist may be found at the Arkell Museum, Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, Art Institute of Chicago, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Currier Gallery of Art, Hood Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Springfield Museum of Art in Utah, and the D'Amour Museum of Fine Art.
Bibliography
Robert McGrath. Paul Sample: Painter of the American Scene. Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 1988.
Paul Sample: Ivy League Regionalist. The Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, 1984.
Paul Sample Retrospective Exhibition. The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH. 1948.
Paula F Glick. Paul Sample. Gerold Wunderlich & Co. in association with The Caldwell Gallery, 1997.
Churchill P Lathrop. The Story of Art at Dartmouth. College Art Journal. 10:4 (1951:Summer), p.395.
“11 Named by Academy”, New York Times, April 25, 1941.
Paul Starrett Sample (1896-1974). AskArt: The Artists' Blue Book.
Peter Hastings Falk. Who Was Who in American Art 1898-1974.
A Sample of Talent, USAir Inflight Magazine, pages 12-17. May 1989.