Sawmill, c.1940

Francis Colburn earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Vermont in 1934, before leaving for New York City where he studied at the Art Students League. He returned to Vermont, and specifically to the University where he taught art and headed the art department.
Colburn’s work was acclaimed in New York City’s art circles, and he exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Although this may be one of his post-Depression era compositions, the subject matter is typical of scenes that many of the artists in the Federal Arts Projects (FAP) chose to paint. That is, local scenes of America and Americans – how they lived and where they worked. The FAP funding continued until 1943, and Colburn did work under the program. Although the arts funding came from the Federal government, there was no pressure on the artists to paint in a certain style or to imbue their compositions some pre-determined messaging or meaning.