George de Forest Brush

[lower right in red ink]: stamped monogram initials; [lower right below stamp in graphite]: Violet Oakley / Florence, 1928; [bottom left in graphite]: George de Froest Brush, the artistAn American painter, Brush (1855-1941) depicted Native American life and in collaboration with the artist Abbot H. Thayer turned their interest in nature’s colorations to the development of military camouflage. Sharing in this interest was Brush’s wife, Mary “Mittie” Taylor Whelpley, herself an artist and aviator. Unable to earn a suitable living with his Native American paintings, Brush traveled for the first time to Florence in 1890. There he studied Renaissance art and began painting mother and child images, which finally brought him financial success. He subsequently made annual trips to Florence, which undoubtedly led to his meeting Oakley there in 1928.