""Heah's a Few Little Trinkets I Picked Up"" Lot no. 4802
By Arthur Burdett Frost (1851-1928)
1906
15" x 12", Framed 22.75" x 19.75"
Gouache on Paper
Signed Lower Right
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"Heah's a Few Little Trinkets I Picked Up," or "Phil and the Judge"
Probable book or magazine illustration showing the character named Phil in front of a judge.
This somber illustration depicts a poignant courtroom scene. A black man, dressed in tattered clothing, stands before a stern, yet seemingly sympathetic, looking white judge. The man extends his arm, showcasing a few meager trinkets clutched in his hand. The judge, clasping his hands on the bench, leans forward intently to listen. While the specific publication remains unidentified, this illustration likely accompanied a story, possibly titled "Phil and the Judge," as indicated by a label on the reverse. The caption, "Heah's a Few Little Trinkets I Picked Up," hints at the man's impoverished circumstances and the potential injustice he may be facing.
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See all original artwork by Arthur Burdett Frost
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Arthur Burdett Frost was our best illustrator of rural America. He usually treated his characters with humor, and in his drawings there was a directness and honesty which showed his sympathetic understanding of his subjects. His sound draughtsmanship was combined with an intimate knowledge of nature. The details in his pictures are always very specific, as though drawn on the spot, and so artfully chosen and placed as to carry out the picture’s idea in a natural and entirely convincing manner.
He may be best remembered now, however, for his charming illustrations for the Uncle Remus tales by Joel Chandler Harris. In the preface and dedication by Harris for the 1896 edition, he wrote of Frost “…you have conveyed into their quaint antics the illumination of your own inimitable humor, which as true to our sun and soil as it is to the spirit and essence of the matter… The book was mine, but now you have made it yours, both sap and pith…”
Frost was appreciated as a wood engraver and gravitated to work as a lithographer. His first success came with his illustrations for Out of the Hurly-Burly by Max Adler. He became a member of the Harper’s Brothers art staff alongside Abbey and Pyle, studied with Thomas Eakins and William Merritt Chase. The Frost family also sojourned in France for a long period of study for Frost and his two sons.