Hugh M. Poe (American, 1902 - 1973)

African tribal group. Oil on canvas, signed lower right corner, in painted wood frame, overall 33" x 43". Note the composition includes a wood grained painted surround over which the figures' fingers grasp as though a window frame.

Hugh M. Poe was an artist based mostly in Indiana. He was born in Texas, and later studied at the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis, where he was a student of William Forsyth. He worked under commission for the Culver Military Academy in Indiana to paint portraits of 64 Culver grads who had lost their lives in war. His painting "Herman and Verman" (1924), two characters from Indiana novelist Booth Tarkington's trilogy of Penrod stories, is in the collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields in Indianapolis.

Condition: Craquelure throughout, small scuff with inpainting lower center, some scuffs to frame. Overall good.