Viola Kleinke (b. 1897?)
Woman Carrying Snowshoes
American: 1915
Watercolor on paper
Signed lower left and dated [19]15
20 x 13.75 inches oval, paper
22 x 16 inches oval, gold frame
Provenance: An antiques shop in Sheridan, Wyoming
$550

Smiling young red-headed collegiate woman dressed in a chic white winter coat and matching hat, trimmed in a red patterned cloth. She carries snowshoes slung over one shoulder, and her white scarf blows in the wind. She represents the ideal of the active, athletic young American woman. Oval shaped.

There is a Viola Lenore Kleinke of the University of Nebraska class of 1919. She was listed in the 1918 university yearbook as being from Cheyenne, Wyoming, and attending the Arts and Sciences and Teachers programs; she also appears on a genealogical web site. Given the date of the piece and the unusual name, and that the painting was purchased recently in Wyoming, it was probably she who painted this.

Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall toning and wear. Three short tears and oxidation in far outer margins, not visible when framed.

References:

"Murphy Family Tree." RootsWeb.com. http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2590155&id=I657 (5 January 2004).

"Nebraska Cornhusker 1918." NEGenWeb. 2002. http://www.rootsweb.com/~neresour/OLLibrary/UNEYB18/pages/nc180219.htm (5 January 2004).