Collection Corner: A Woodland Scene
In 1966 Fuller E. Callaway, Jr. and his wife Alice added the painting called “Woodland” to their home. This wonderful oil on canvas painting was created by George Cherepov (1909-1987) and was acquired by the Callaways from the Grand Central Art Gallery in New York. It depicts a fall woodland scene surrounding a stone-edged pond. The landscape painting was awarded the Jasper Cropsey Award in 1963 from the Hudson Valley Art Association.
Cherepov, originally from Lithuania, immigrated to the United States with his wife Klara in 1952 and eventually settled in Greenwich, Connecticut. He fell in love with the colorful fall New England countryside, often painting while all bundled up. He was well-known for his captivating landscapes that were painted “on the spot.”
Cherepov established himself as a popular painter in the northeast United States and gave exhibitions in Vermont, Princeton, Philadelphia and New York. Between 1958 and 1970 Cherepov presented ten one-man shows at Grand Central Galleries in New York. It was apparently during one of these exhibitions that Alice decided to purchase “Woodland” and give it to her husband, Fuller. This wonderful landscape painting graces the living room staircase in the Fuller E. Callaway home. The painting beautifully reflects their combined love of nature and the arts.
