Eric Sloane Art

Taos Adobe Eric Sloane (American, 1905-1985) Oil on board Signed front and back 6 1/2 x 13 (11 1/2 x 18 frame) inches Artist, author and folklorist, Eric Sloane, is best known for his paintings of New England farmscapes and his illustrated books of early Americana. As a visitor and eventual resident of New Mexico, he also is considered an important artist of the Southwest. Sloane was born Everard Jean Hinrichs to a prosperous family in New York City. As a youngster, he learned lettering and sign painting from his neighbor, Frederic Goudy, a noted type designer. In 1925 Hinrichs left home in a Model T Ford, and made his way across the country earning money as a sign painter. The next year he landed in Taos where he met members of the art colony, painted signs, as well as a few of his earliest pictures. Back in New York, Hinrichs continued his sign painting career. Among his clients were many of the early aviation pioneers at Roosevelt Field, Long Island who asked him to paint names and identifying marks on their aircraft. Wiley Post not only was a client, but also taught Hinrichs to fly, instilling a life-long love of the aesthetics and science of clouds and sky. Amelia Earhart is said to have purchased one of his first cloud paintings. In the mid-1930s Hinrichs studied at the Art Students League under John Sloan. As part of his transformation from sign painter to fine artist, he adopted the name “Sloane” in homage to his mentor, and the name Eric from the middle letters of “America.” Settling in New Milford, Connecticut, Sloane quickly became a highly skilled and phenomenally prolific painter of the rural landscapes and colonial architecture of New England. He painted in a detailed, realistic style with a slightly choppy brush technique that enhanced the rustic quality of his subject matter. Slone reportedly painted 15,000 pictures over his career, averaging almost one per day. In the early 1940s, Sloane’s interest in meteorology resulted in publication of several books on weather and clouds. In the 1950s he began his meticulous documentation of colonial architecture, tools, and folklore, resulting in a series of books that he both wrote and illustrated. The most famous of these include: A Reverence for Wood, Our Vanishing Landscape, A Museum of Early American Tools, American Barns and Covered Bridges, and Diary of an Early American Boy: Noah Blake – 1805. In all, Sloane produced 35 books, many of which are still in print. His vast collection of tools, which served as models for many illustrations, became the nucleus of the Sloane-Stanley Tool...

A fine winter landscape with a skier enjoying solitude on a mountain run by American artist Eric Sloane (1905-1985). Sloane was born Everard Jean Hinrichs in New York City and took a...

A fine landscape with a cowboy on horseback riding the ridge with powerful clouds behind him by American artist Eric Sloane (1905-1985). Sloane was born Everard Jean Hinrichs in New York City and took an early interest in art, spending many boyhood hours with neighbor and noted font inventor Frederic Goudy. From Goudy, he learned to hand paint letters and signs. He established several aviation clients from Roosevelt Field, Long Island, painting the identifying marks on their planes. From these connections, he learned to fly and developed his love for clouds and sky from this newfound passion. One of his early clients, Amelia Earhardt, purchased his first cloud painting, and Sloane is said to be the finest cloud painter of his generation. His largest cloud painting graces the entire wall of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Sloane is also known as being the foremost authority on early American rural architecture and early American tools, with many books published on each subject. Oil on masonite, signed lower left, titled on verso “Lone Summer Rider,” inscribed “Fenn Gallery, Santa Fe” on verso and frame, and framed in a complimenting barn board...

An oil on board by Eric Sloane (1910-1985). Titled "Ahead of the Weather", circa 1940. Signed lower right. Housed in a gold gilt frame. Image size, 19"L x 13"H. Eric Sloane wa...