2˄ Ranch, Wyoming, Big Horn Mountains

Sharp visited his friend Fra Dana at her Wyoming 2˄ ranch near Sheridan in November 1907 according to a letter to his friend Joseph Henry Gest. (Sharp Papers) The next year he began showing samples of his paintings from there at his exhibitions. Such views as this, ranging in price from $300 to $400, appeared in exhibits well into the mid-teens.

 

Stark Museum label text: Sharp's scene of the 2˄ Ranch evokes a story of how ranch life thwarted artistic goals for another artist. Sharp visited the ranch where his former art student, Fra Dinwiddie Dana, lived. She had studied art in Cincinnati. When she married Wyoming rancher Edwin L. Dana, she made an agreement with him that she would travel and pursue her art studies part of every year. The demands of ranch life distracted her from her goals. Sketching expeditions with Sharp were her respite from the hard work of ranch life. They gave Sharp an opportunity to study the Wyoming landscape in the company of someone who shared his artistic interests. The Sharp and Dana families visited each other at least annually over the next decade.