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| OIL ON CANVAS |
| 32" x 39-1/2" |
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Instructions:
Move the mouse around the left image to see different parts of the image.
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| Gift from the Springville High School, Class of 1935 trust |
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The painting is of the artist's daughter, Mary Louise Richards (Hauber) when she was 14 years old. She is depicted as a pioneer girl among the first wagons to enter the Salt Lake Valley. She symbolizes the "fair young daughters of Zion" who came to Utah to help establish the Kingdom of God. The picture was painted as an emblem of the ideal pioneer girl. It was initially executed to commemorate the centennial of the founding of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints, but they did not purchase the picture.
The pioneer girl holds a red wildflower, Indian Paint Brush, and meditates upon her new mountain home. The figure and dress of the young girl were idealized by Richards to emphasize the purity and strength of those who were obliged to settle in this isolated region. Painted near the beginning of the Great Depression, the subject is oblivious to the social and economic trauma then gripping the nation.
The early Depression years saw a revival of historical and genre painting in Utah. With the commission of the murals for the dome of the state capitol building, in which Richards was deeply involved, more paintings depicting our heritage and culture were created. Paintings of the pioneers, rather than cowboys and industrial workers, were especially in vogue. Calvin Fletcher,Carlos Anderson, Lynn Fausett and Lee Greene Richards were among the most active muralist and easel painters in this regionalist phenomena. |
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