Franklin and His Volunteers at Three Crown Inn
Date1942
Artist
Gayle Porter Hoskins
(American painter, illustrator, and muralist, 1887–1962)
Illustration CitationIllustration for the 1942 Du Pont Co. Safety Calendar
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions30 x 42 in. (76.2 x 106.7 cm)
frame: 35 1/2 x 47 5/8 in. (90.2 x 121 cm)
frame: 35 1/2 x 47 5/8 in. (90.2 x 121 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Alene Hoskins, 1978
Object number1978-677
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPAINTING
Label TextAs the demand for illustration diminished during the Depression, magazines turned increasingly to photography for pictures. Gayle Hoskins in turn concentrated on practical publications such as calendars. In 1736, after Benjamin Franklin learned that Boston had established organized fire fighting companies, he founded Philadelphia's Union Fire Company. This painting promoting fire safety practices recalls Franklin's description of the Boston model:
"Soon after it [a fire] is seen and cry'd out, the Place is crowded by active Men of different Ages, Professions and Titles who, as of one Mind and Rank, apply themselves with all Vigilance and Resolution, according to their Abilities, to the hard Work of conquering the increasing fire."
Gayle Porter Hoskins
1925
