Sparrows
Date1953
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsCanvas: 16 1/4 × 28 7/8 inches (41.3 × 73.3 cm)
Framed: 22 × 34 5/8 inches (55.9 × 87.9 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Augusta Oelschig.
Object number2019.41.16
Copyright© Estate of Augusta Oelschig.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextOn a return visit to Savannah in 1953, Oelschig had
her easel set up on Greene square, making a painting
of Laura Jones’s house. A group of youths repeated
asked the artist to paint them. Hoping to satisfy them
and return to her painting, Oelschig had the children
sit on a nearby fence while she made a drawing of
them. Back in New York, Oelschig decided that the
drawing would make a good painting. The work was
later exhibited at ACA Galleries in New York where
it was praised by New York Times critic Howard
DeVree, as one of the best in the show in a
subsequent review.
