Cactus Garden
Paul Sample, American, 1896 - 1974
About 1928 - 1932
Oil on canvas
Overall: 26 × 20 in. (66 × 50.8 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of the artist, Class of 1920
P.983.34.239
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Painting
Research Area
Painting
Not on view
Inscriptions
Signed, lower left: Paul Sample. Reverse: P.S. Sample, 135 Arroyo Verde Rd., S. Pasedena, Cactus $150(crossed out) $100
Label
Paul Sample (Class of 1920) painted this vibrant prickly pear cactus while living in South Pasadena, California. The small red fruits indicate that the plant just finished blooming, although hints of yellow and orange suggest some leaves might still be flowering. The rustic fence behind the cactus separates it from the greenery rising in the background, implying that this is part of a much larger garden. Living at the time near San Marino, Sample likely painted this canvas in the Huntington Museum’s Desert Garden. Today, this garden is one of the largest and oldest collections of cacti in the world.
From the 2024 exhibition Beyond the Bouquet: Arranging Flowers in American Art, curated by Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art
Course History
English 39.01, American Fiction: 1950-1990, Kimberly Brown, Winter 2025
Italian 1.01, Introductory Italian I, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2025
Spanish 3.01, Spanish III, Natalia Monetti, Spring 2025
Spanish 3.02, Spanish III, Natalia Monetti, Spring 2025
Anthropology 31.01, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 36.01, Gender in Cross Cultural Perspectives, Sabrina Billings, Fall 2025
Studio Session: Beyond the Bouquet, Winter 2025
Special Tour: Attitude of Coexistence and Beyond the Bouquet, Winter 2025
Exhibition Tour: Attitudes of Coexistence and Beyond the Bouquet, Winter 2025
Exhibition History
Beyond the Bouquet: Arranging Flowers in American Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, December 18, 2024 - January 10, 2026.
Provenance
The artist; given to Dartmouth College Library; transferred to present collection, 1983
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