Charles Krutch (Tennessee, 1849-1934), oil on canvas laid to board, East Tennessee Smoky Mountain landscape painting. Signed “Krutch” lower left in red. With E.G. Gagg, The Picture Framery, Knoxville, Tenn. label affixed to back of frame. Housed in a painted and giltwood frame. Sight: 7 1/2 in. H x 9 1/2 in. W. Canvas: 7 7/8 in. H x 9 5/8 in. W. Framed: 11 1/2 in. H x 13 1/2 in. W. Biographical Note: "Charles Christian Krutch is regarded as one of East Tennessee's first painters to specialize in scenes of the Smoky Mountains. He earned the nickname 'Corot of the South' for his soft, atmospheric watercolor and oil landscape paintings of the mountain range. Totally untrained as an artist, he often applied thick layers of oil paint with brushes as well as his fingers. Krutch's goal was to capture the changing 'moods' of the mountains and regarded his subjects as 'just like people.' He won a regional award for best watercolor at the 1913 National Conservation Exposition in Knoxville. However, it was not until 1933, a year before his death, that the 84-year-old artist received recognition outside Knoxville for his idyllic mountain landscape murals commissioned by the federal government as part of the Public Works Art Project. (Source: Knoxville Museum of Art)

Overall, in very good condition. With retouching to three pinpoint punctures at the left, right, and lower center.