100 Objects: Malcolm Parcell pencil sketches
Malcolm Parcell pencil sketches
Born in 1896 in Claysville, Malcolm Parcell is Western Pennsylvania’s most prominent artist, known for his portraits, landscapes, historical paintings and murals. These pencil sketches would have been preliminary drawings for paintings. The larger sketch was done on the back of shirt packaging cardboard and is marked with a grid. Parcell used this method to transfer a drawing to a larger, proportionately sized canvas, focusing on one square at a time.
Two of Parcell’s works can be seen on display in Washington. The Pioneer Room in the George Washington Hotel boasts a 150-foot-long mural depicting scenes along the National Road and the Whiskey Rebellion that was painted on canvas and then attached to the plaster walls, and at the Citizens Library is a mural titled, “Books Are Many Lives to Live.” The 5 ½-by-18-foot mural shows a montage of scenes from and about books and hangs behind the checkout counter at the library.
Alice Burroughs is a volunteer at Washington County Historical Society and a member of the antiquities committee.