Velox Benjamin Ward (American, 1901-1994) The Clown Oil on board 11-1/2 x 14-1/2 inches (29.2 x 36.8 cm) PROVENANCE: The artist; By descent to the present owner. EXHIBITED: Longview Museum and Arts Center, Longview, Texas, October 1980. During the 1930s and 1940s, American artists and critics sought "authenticity" in American art and some even began painting in a self-conscious and obvious naïve style. Self-taught painters such as Anna Mary "Grandma" Moses in New York, Clara McDonald "Aunt Clara" Williamson, H. O. "Cowboy" Kelly in Texas, and Augusta Isabel Corson Metcalfe Metcalfe in Oklahoma, caught the public's attention in the 1950s and 1960s, resulting in museum and gallery exhibitions of their work. Nearly all practiced some form of what came to be called "memory painting," some form of resurrected reminiscences of nostalgic, often rural and agricultural times. They also tended to start making art fairly late in their lives. Velox Ward, Sr. followed this same pattern in the 1960s. HID12401132022 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

Framed Dimensions 16 X 13 Inches