Theobald, Samuel, Jr. (1872-1956)

Born in Baltimore, MD, Theobald was the eldest child of a famous eye surgeon at the Johns Hopkins University Medical School. After attending college at that institution, where he was an artist for the school annual, he worked briefly as a caricaturist for the Baltimore Afternoon News (“Art News”). Early in Theobald’s career, he studied with André Castaigne, the popular French illustrator and painter. He was present to witness the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, sketching from Federal Hill and creating a lurid painting of fire and smoke that was described as “very appalling” in its sublime effect (“Picture”). Theobald began dividing his time between Baltimore and New York around 1900, his main interests to that point focused upon sporting art. In 1915, he married Elizabeth Sturtevant, a sculptor, and exhibited his work in venues like the Corcoran Gallery, the Beginning in the mid-1920s, the divided their time between Staten Island and Orlando, FL. They received permission from the Ringling Brothers to spend several months at the circus’s winter home in Sarasota, resulting in distinctive works like sculptural castings of “Miss Congo” the gorilla, and paintings of bareback riders, clowns on stilts, and “Elephant Being Manicured” (“Theobald Art”). 5 more images at FAP.

Sources Consulted: “Picture of the Great Fire,” Baltimore Sun 12 Mar. 1904: 6; “Art News from Baltimore,” American Art News 3.71 (18 Mar. 1905): 5; “Theobald Art Exhibitions on Display In New Showing of Art Association,” Orlando Sentinel 17 Mar. 1929: 15.

Works in the New Deal Collection at GVCA by Samuel Theobald:

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Close Relations
Close Relations

A table, draped in eggshell cloth and situated in front of a curtain of the same color, holds a vase containing cherry blossoms, a tea cup, a decorated box—perhaps a tea chest?—and a small statue of a frog. Each of the items seems to evoke East Asian influences, such as the woman on the vase wearing a Japanese kimono, and the frog, a traditional symbol of good luck in Japan. The painting’s title alludes to myriad connections in the world, an encompassing family including but not limited to humans. A few blossoms on the table subtly remind us of temporal change.

Fishing Boats, New Suffolk
Fishing Boats, New Suffolk

Two boats, a sailboat at left and a motor boat at right, are stationary on calm water. Trees that occupy the background of this piece are reflected by the water in which several moorings are stand. A sand hill or trail cuts into these trees. The painting is predominantly earth-toned, excluding the red stripes on both boats and the blue of the sky which is also reflected by the water. Note: an unfortunate repair of the painting has rendered the sailboat’s booms miscolored.

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