I took a road trip up to Sheffield, Massachusetts in the Berkshires to meet with my long time friend and the well known painter Francis Cunningham. We looked at his classic New England post and beam barn and talked about the old tools he’s collected and why they are often the subject of his paintings. Here’s the video of my talk with Francis (Dick) Cunningham and also some photos from the day in the Berkshires on the farm. Some of the paintings inspired by farm tools are shown at the end of the video… a description of each painting is provided at the end of this post below the pictures:
The Apple Orchard
A closeup of some of the barn beams with mortises that were often borrowed from other barns.
The fields in Spring
The fireplace and study
Handmade farm tools including the mule drawn cultivator, post hole digger and handheld cultivator are the subject of many of Francis Cunningham’s paintings.
The back of the barn with the artist’s studio space on top.
Francis (Dick) Cunningham in the fields.
A look at the farm from a distance
Paintings by Francis Cunningham featured at the end of the video in the following order:
Mule Drawn Cultivator, oil on linen. 40 x 72
Ice Tools, oil on linen. 72 x 40
Hay Baler at Limestone Farm, oil on linen. 38 x 48
Harvest Tools, oil on linen. 60 x 44
Forest Tools, oil on linen. 72 x 46
Studio Interior, oil on linen. 30 x 52
