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Harlan Burrous Hunt was an artist of remarkable
ability that very few outside of his immediate family have even heard
about. Born in Hunt, formerly Hunt Town, in Johnson County, Arkansas on
December 24th, 1888 to Charles McDonald and Lucy Jackson Hunt, his early
life is obscure and unrecorded. He attended the Coal Hill High School and
moved to Ft. Smith, Arkansas with his parents as a young man. Mr. Hunt
spent his early life making a living as a carpenter, later as a teller
with First National Bank of Fort Smith, Arkansas. After serving in the
Veterinary Corp of the U. S. Army in WW 1, he returned to carpentry for
several years as his pre-war employer would not rehire him, a common
problem for veterans of that era. In the post war period, he founded and
was co-owner of a cotton buying company. He borrowed heavily to start the
company and prospered until his partner stole the payroll, driving the
company into bankruptcy. In the late 20's, he opened Hunt's Hatchery, the
first commercial chicken hatchery in Arkansas and sold freshly hatched
chicks across the state and country for farmers and growers. His former
cotton company partner attempted competition with Mr. Hunt by opening a
hatchery of his own but could not compete with the quality of the chicks
from Hunt's Hatchery. Mr. Hunt closed his hatchery in 1955. Crippled by
emphysema from smoking and chick down, he was forced to retire and turned
to his first love, painting. Examples exist of his work as far back as
1915 with his most prolific year being 1963. Most of his art is signed and
dated in the bottom corner and a few of his later works were simply
signed. His final work is an example of this.
I will attempt to
display his handiwork through these pages although his skill cannot be
appreciated without close inspection of his work. Minute details were of
great importance to Mr. Hunt and painstakingly added to each piece of his
artwork.
I hope you enjoy these pages and will return
frequently.
Fredrick H. Hunt Grandson |
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