This is a very cute vintage Folk Art oil painting depicting an antique saltbox yellow farmhouse with a prominent weathered red barn located beside it – according to what is written on the reverse of the painting, the farmhouse is located in the Carthage, New York area – the painting was done by Folk Art artist Sanny Backus of Carthage who titled the painting “Winter Barn” – on the reverse, the artist stated that this painting was done in oil & acrylic paints, but, the look & feel of the painting in my estimation is predominantly oil paint – the painting is not dated, but, appears to be from the 1970’s? The subject of the painting which is the red barn at the center of the picture is shown with a mid-winter heavy coat of snow on its sloping front side where it appears to attach to another smaller outbuilding – there are heavy drifts of snow on the ground all around the barn & the saltbox colonial as well as on the roof of the farmhouse – both buildings were painted to depict them as quite weathered from the many winter seasons & storms that they have survived through – the artist used a palette of pale red & brown to depict the barn & a gray- black for the barn’s roof – for the saltbox colonial, the artist used a palette of pale brown & beige for the front side, & pale gray with a tint of yellow for the south side of the house, all to reflect extreme weathering of the south side of the house due to heavy winds & storms. Behind the farmhouse & barn are some smallish mountains painted in a pleasant variety of blue, green, brown, & gray colors which seem to show less snow buildup than on the flatter terrain by the farmhouse – probably the snow is there but hard to see through the dense foliage created by the artist – the painting measures 12″ x 16″ sight size, & is in very good vintage condition – it is well-enhanced by its original painted wooden frame where the blue-green color of the outer border of the frame matches the blue-green colors of the small mountains – the frame also has an inner border painted gray-black which matches nicely with the grays & blacks of the painting the fence, the trees, the base of the barn, & the various shadows found around the house & the barn as well as the mountains.
