Wellsburg, Kentucky by Harlan Hubbard

Wellsburg, Kentucky by Harlan Hubbard

Artist: Harlan Hubbard (1900 – 1988)

Oil on sheet metal

18” x 23 1/2” framed to 21” x 26 1/2”

Dated: 1941 and inscribed Wellsburg, Ky. on the reverse

17,000-

This a view within a small Bracken County community situated on the Ohio River about 40 miles by road East of Cincinnati. Painted prior to he and Anna’s Shanty boat journey when possibly scouting for a place to settle along the Ohio River. The painting remained with the artist until his death when bequeathed to Claude (Bill) Caddell. Thence to Bill’s widow Flo who offered this among 23 other Hubbard works at auction on 2-17-2024 from where I purchased it along with several other Hubbard works. Caddell had received most of Hubbard’s remaining art by bequest. Inscription on the reverse faintly reads “Wellsburg, Ky. 1941” along with later inscriptions and a past exhibit plaque. Difficult to argue against this being from the most desirable period of Hubbard’s artistic career. In excellent condition as painted in a frame crafted by the artist from discarded dressed wood.