Measures 19 3/4 x 12 3/4 framed, 17 x 11 inches (work of art). Oil on canvas, on the original pine stretcher. Signed both on the front and on the back of the canvas A MONTGOMERY. Features four ears of corn with Montgomery’s iconic raised corn kernels. The shocks of corn hang on an old barn door. One small circular water drop stain to the left shock. No repairs or damage.
Alfred E. A. Montgomery (1857–1922), often called the “Corn Painter” or “Farmer-Painter,” was an American artist best known for his strikingly realistic depictions of corn. Born in Lawndale, Illinois, Montgomery was orphaned at an early age and raised in a Kansas orphanage, where he was “bound out” as farm labor until age 21. Despite having little formal education, he developed a passion for art and taught himself to paint. Montgomery’s work focused heavily on farm life, with his corn still lifes standing out for their meticulous texture and realism. He often painted on humble or found materials such as patched canvas, tin, cigar boxes, or rough lumber, sometimes framing his works with barn boards or fence rails to reinforce their rustic character. Proud of his farming background, Montgomery referred to himself as “the farmer who paints and the painter who farms,” and he delivered lectures on art that were populist, entertaining, and widely attended. Over his life, he lived and worked in several states, including Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, and California, eventually settling for a time in Lassen County, California, on a homestead he called “Nowhere.” He continued to paint, lecture, and exhibit until his death in Los Angeles in 1922. Today, Montgomery is remembered as a unique figure in American folk art whose corn paintings celebrate the beauty and dignity of rural life.