[From the Community Collection, a public trust in Agincourt, Iowa]

PHALEN, Florence A. (née Craig) [1891–?]

Winter’s Eve, New Snowfall

ca. 1915

oil on board / 10 inches by 8 inches / signed

The former Florence A. Craig married John J. Phelan in 1911 and established their family in St Louis, Missouri. Mrs Phelan was, apparently, self-trained, a hobbyist who painted solely for personal satisfaction, for family and friends. This charming winter scene came into the possession of an Agincourt family related to the Phalens.

The painting is an example of Arts & Crafts simplicity displayed in an Aesthetic Movement frame of twenty-five years earlier. Since one movement grew from the other, the relationship is entirely appropriate. This is on anonymous long-term loan to the collection.