Cow

Abstract

This is an encaustic painting of a cow made of thread on a yellow, brown and orange background. The background is multicolored and the foreground is of a cow depicted through string. The subject is encased with encaustic. It is surrounded by a wooden frame with gold, red, and white paint. The wood on the frame has many holes. On the back along the top is the artist's signature "ferdinand warren," the left side of the frame's back has a nailed strip of paper that reads "Cow encaustic & string 10x16 / $280." Underneath the paper it reads "91" in black ink. On the right side of the frame's back reads "COW ENCAUSTIC / FERDINAND WARREN / E 536." Encaustic on back of frame with water damage along the center. No glass. Artist biography: Ferdinand Earl Warren was an American painter born in Independence, Missouri. He focused mainly on landscapes and animals with a unique style. His work focuses on a study of the old masters. He studied at the Kansas City Art Institute for two years and, while focusing on mural painting, Warren spent six years on the art staff of the Kansas City Star. In 1924 Warren received a fellowship to study at the L.C. Tiffany Fellowship in Oyster Bay, Long Island and afterwards moved to New York where he studied at the Art Student League and Grand Central School of Art. During World War II he created war bond posters for the U.S. Treasury Department. He had exhibitions at the Milch Galleries in 1946 and 1949. In 1950 he was invited to be a visiting artist at the University of Georgia by Lamar Dodd. The following year Warren was appointed Chair of the Art Department at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, where he taught until 1969. In 1957, he painted a series of murals, A History of the Printed Word, for the reception room of the printing house Foote and Davies of Atlanta. The titles of his works: Rockies, Manhattan Skyline, and Wreck at Squeaker Cover show the varied nature of his subject matter. While in Georgia, he painted many scenes of the countryside around Decatur. Warren's later work trended toward the abstract.