"Three Pears"
Oil on PanelAmerican, Signed, Dated 1957
16 x 18 Inches
Thomas Prentiss
"Three Pears"
Oil on Panel
American, Signed, Dated 1957
16 x 18 Inchess
Thomas Saunders Prentiss (American, 1926-1997) was a still life painter, muralist and scientific illustrator known for his trompe l’oeil style. He was born on September 13, 1926 in Buffalo, NY to newspaper editor, Nelson Hawley Prentiss (1901-1984) and Esther J. (née Saunders) Prentiss (1904-1984) who were married on September 5, 1925 in Buffalo, NY, and he had a younger brother, Nelson H. Prentiss, Jr. (1927-2012). Prentiss’ artistic talents were recognized early on with numerous small cash prizes ($1-$5) while still a teenager, through various Clubs’ coloring and drawing contests featured in the Buffalo Evening News and the Buffalo Courier-Express in the early 1940s. Other early works were exhibited at the Art Institute of Buffalo in 1941 and the Buffalo Museum of Science through the Honorary Nature Sketching Hobby Club in their “13th Annual Art Exhibition” in 1942.
He primarily painted trompe l’oeil still lifes, using realistic imagery to create the illusion of 3-D subjects. His mediums included oil, tempera, ink, goldpoint, silverpoint and pencil. He was a member of the Patteran Society of Buffalo and art exhibitions included: Solo shows at the Durlacher Brothers Gallery in NYC in 1954 and 1957, where he sold 18 of 19 paintings. He also exhibited in several annual “Western New York” art exhibits at the Albright Art Gallery (1949; Wm. Hengerer Prize 1952; Kittinger prize, 1953; Junior League (1954), Patteran Society of Buffalo exhibits (1954 & 1960), the Rhode Island School of Design (1955), the Corcoran Gallery biannual exhibition (1959), the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts annual exhibition (1962), and the Whitney Museum of American Art (1962) where his goldpoint drawing was acquired for their permanent collection through the Ford Foundation Purchase Program.
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