This naïve oil was painted in 1905 by Frank Blood and is believed to picture the Blood farmstead on the Fox River in the Town of Vernon. Frank was the grandson of Ira Blood one of the founding settlers in the Mukwonago area. Ira’s survey work helped create the original plat of the village in 1836. The painting also portrays Frank’s sister Lorina or Serina, not sure which, as the censuses of the time only listed the head of the household. The pencil inscription on the back of the stretcher was confirmed by consulting the 1873 marriage document of Isaac Blood and Clara Stevens that also shows Grandfather Ira. The painting was donated in January of 2023. The donor had found the painting among Blood heirlooms passed down to a descendant in Whitewater.
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