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Will Shuster, 40th Wedding Anniversary, n.d., oil on board, 24 × 26 3/8 in. Collection of the N…
40th Wedding Anniversary
Will Shuster, 40th Wedding Anniversary, n.d., oil on board, 24 × 26 3/8 in. Collection of the N…
Will Shuster, 40th Wedding Anniversary, n.d., oil on board, 24 × 26 3/8 in. Collection of the New Mexico Museum of Art. Gift of Catherine Rayne, 1978 (4011.23P). Photo by Cameron Gay.

40th Wedding Anniversary

Artist (American, 1893 - 1969)
Daten.d.
Mediumoil on board
DimensionsImage: 16 1/4 × 20 1/4 in. (41.3 × 51.4 cm)
Support: 18 × 21 3/4 in. (45.7 × 55.2 cm)
Frame: 24 × 26 3/8 × 1 in. (61 × 67 × 2.5 cm)
Frame (Display box): 33 × 36 5/8 × 3 1/4 in. (83.8 × 93 × 8.3 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineGift of Catherine Rayne, 1978
Object number4011.23P
DescriptionThe 40th wedding anniversary party of John and Dolly Sloan. There are 15 people sitting at a round table with a large white and green frosted cake at the center. The cake has 40th Anniversary written on the front in pink icing. In front of the seated party members are neon reddish-pink glasses. Glass carafes of wine sit on the table surrounding the cake. A waiter in a white shirt at the upper left is serving the woman in the red dress (Dolly). At the upper right is a woman in a yellow baseball cap. Standing next to Dolly on the right is a man wearing a red tie (John) and gesticulating at the man to his right.


Text Entries
The painting should always be exhibited in a protective display box due to the fragile nature of the velvet frame.
Identification of the guests sitting at the table with the Sloan’s was found in an article written for the Santa Fe New Mexican and published on Thursday, August 7, 1941. This article was used as the accurate listing of those seated at the table. A copy of this article can be found in the Accession file.

A listing of names is written on the verso of the painting. The names are listed approximately where that person is located at the table but they were written in the opposite direction from the actual orientation of the painting. The identification of the guests appears to have been inscribed at a later date by someone other than the artist. Some names are crossed out and others are added below those that have been eliminated. When this is compared to the article from the Santa Fe New Mexican and from an interview with Edna Robertson, the identifications found on the verso are incorrect. Copies of the two documents as well as an image of the verso can be found in the Accession file.




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