Adobe Gallery Blog

Occasionally, a painting of outstanding quality arrives at the gallery and we are unable to locate any biographical information on the artist. That is the case with this painting. The quality of the work is that of a trained exceptional artist, but he or she is not recorded in the literature.

The texture of the applied oil paints and the shading achieved by the artist identify that this is not the work of an amateur, but that of a true artist. The artist captured the relaxed attitude of the subject as he leans on a wall waiting his turn to rope an animal, perhaps at a rodeo.

The painting is signed in lower right. There is no date. It is framed in a vintage frame which might be original to the painting.

The following is an excerpt sent to us regarding E. W. Sork. We are greatly indebted to this gentleman for his diligence in searching out who this artist was and then sharing the information with us:

I own an original painting by the same artist E. W. Sork; it depicts rowboats on a lake or river. This was in my mother's family since least the 1940's; for the last year or so I've been trying to research information on this "unknown" artist. I could never find information showing their complete name so I recently thought to instead try several genealogy sites using their initials and last name. My mother's family lived in Philadelphia so it was a natural guess that the artist might have some association with Philly.

Using the Mormon site www.familysearch.org I found a birth and death record for an Elsie W. Sork; her middle name was derived from her father Morris W. Wolpert. She was born in 1895, lived in Philadelphia, and died in the year 2000. Having found the artist's complete name I then found a record for the PA Museum and School of Industrial Art (in Philadelphia). Their website shows a commencement exercise that took place in June 1928 -- and lists the degrees and awards that were issued. Elise W. Sork's name is shown as a student in their Department of Art.

I believe then that the artist's signature of E.W. Sork must have been by this woman Elsie W. Sork. The clues were her name, the fact that she was a resident of Philadelphia where my mother's family lived, the fact that she graduated from the PA Museum School of Art, and the date of her graduation. I have not been able to find information about her descendants but will possibly attempt to locate a family member who can 100% confirm this attribution.

Subject: Original Oil Painting of a Cowboy by Elsie W. Sork
Artist: Elsie W. Sork (1895-2000)
Category: Paintings
Origin: European-American Artists
Medium: Oil on Canvas Board
Size: 15-1/2" x 10-1/2" image; 19-1/2" x 14-1/2" framed
Item # 22155