Old Farmer

A. B. Frost was largely self-taught but studied briefly with Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Considered one of the great illustrators of America’s golden age, he was best known for his humorous images of homely farmers and animals. He is also credited with creating sequential illustrations that eventually evolved into cartoon strips. Frost gave this drawing of the Old Farmer to Norman Rockwell in 1925. With his mouth open and chin up, it appears that the old farmer is singing. Notice the shaded effect the straw hat has on the upper portion of the farmer’s face.