Oil on canvas (lined), signed at lower right, inscribed "Glass Blowers / by Thomas Congdon / Paris Salon" to medial stretcher bar, retaining two hand-written labels to verso, later frame.

Stretcher size 41 1/2 x 56 1/4 in.; Frame dimensions 62 3/8 x 47 3/4 in.

Thomas R. Congdon was born in Addison, New York. He apprenticed with his brother, master painter for the Northern Pacific Railway in Brainerd, Minnesota before going into business himself. In 1882, he studied portrait painting under Alva S. Merriett in Kansas City. Encouraged by his progress, he moved to New York and enrolled at the Art Students’ League where he studied under William Merritt Chase, Siddons Mowbray and J. Carroll Beckwith for six years.

In 1893, Congdon left New York for Paris. He remained there for three years where he studied under Benjamin Constant and Jean Paul Laurens. Congdon and his wife, a fellow artist, established a studio in Paris and in Venice, traveling and painting throughout Europe for the next sixteen years. They both exhibited frequently at the Salons and recieved numerous commissions, including one from the Rothchild family to paint scenes in Holland.

Thomas Congdon returned to the United States in 1914. He was a member of the Salmagundi Club and the American Art Association of Paris. His paintings were acquired by the Boston Art Club and other public collections.

The Glass Blowers was inspired by a visit made by Congdon through Belgian glass blowing factories. According to several primary sources, this painting was exhibited in New York and abroad. Following Congdon’s death, the painting was presented to the Brainerd Public Library in 1923, where it hung until deaccessioned in 1989.

Stable craquelure; obscuring varnish; retouch visible under UV light.