Description: It’s rare to find a painting of historic Ellicott City, Maryland (just outside Baltimore) that is nearing 100 years old. This painting depicts a long row of worker houses in what is likely the mill village of Oella, immediately across the Patapsco River from Ellicott City. Oella was a company town and was the site of historic Oella Mill. The workers in the mill rented houses from the Oella Company and lived close by. The town of Oella, like Ellicott City has been deemed historic and nicely preserved. The artist of this painting is Grace Howard Van Order. Van Order was born in Baltimore in 1905. She studied at the Maryland Institute and subsequently taught art for a full career at the Park School, just north of Baltimore. Van Order used a modernist approach with this painting and for the 1930’s. The houses are simply styled with an emphasis on the facade window and door pattern as well as the repetitive nature of the roofs and chimneys. The slight curvature of the road and corresponding row lend a “Royal Crescent” appeal to these worker houses. Her style was similar to that of other Baltimore area artists that studied at the Maryland Institute in the 1930’s. This work was exhibited, as there is a lone old tack and tiny portion of cardstock attached to the back stretcher that was likely originally part of an exhibition label. Van Orden died in 1978. The painting is oil on canvas and measures 18” x 24”. It is in good cleaned and varnished condition and shows well. It does have a repair in the roof area of the second house from the right. There is a patch on the back, and some inpainting on the front that is slightly detectable but not really noticeable at any distance. The frame is of stained oak and likely original to the piece. There is an old exhibition number (10) adhered to the top corner, which was likely the bottom corner before the frame was reversed at some point. The painting is signed and dated 1934, lower right. On the reverse stretcher it is again signed and also on the back canvas where it is titled “Ellicot City 1934”. The overall framed dimensions are about 21” x 26 1/2”. FREE Pick up in Baltimore is available.
Price: 395 USD
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
End Time: 2024-12-01T15:24:45.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Type: Painting
Year of Production: 1934
Original/Licensed Reproduction: Original
Theme: Architecture, Cities & Towns
Style: Modernism
Production Technique: Oil Painting
