Original pen-and-ink drawing of Walter and Mary Hamady's farm in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, 6 x 7 inches, with a pencil note in the lower margin in the artist's hand identifying the drawing as "The happy homestead of Mary Laird and Walter Hamady by Jack Beal" (no date, but 1975)

A superb pen-and-ink drawing, which was reproduced on the small broadside birth announcement of the Hamadys daughter Laura. The announcement is entitled "Laura Evans Hamady - Printer's Devil". Laura Hamady was born January 5, 1975, and the proud parents printed a broadside to mark the occasion. The broadside reads in part: "Mother Father & Daughter are well and thriving at home, pictured above in a view from the barn drawn by Laura's Uncle Jack who is so modest he didn't even sign it." It may be that Beal annotated the drawing at a later date, on a subsequent visit to the Hamadys, or the statement may simply mean that the drawing wasn't signed in the conventional way. Jack Beal, one of the pre-eminent realist painters in American, illustrated nine Perishable Press books, including Loren Eiseley's The Brown Wasps in 1969, two Gabberjabbs, Hunkering in Wisconsin and Thumbnailing the Hilex, in 1974, and Seeds and Chairs in 1979, as well as a number of ephemeral pieces. Best known for his paintings, drawings, and prints, Beal's work is represented in many of the most prestigious museums in the country, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. The present drawing, which beautifully illustrates his relationship with the Hamadys and the Perishable Press, is a fine example of Beal's brilliant draftsmanship. The drawing is accompanied by a copy of the birth announcement, and both are in fine condition. The drawing is accompanied by a copy of the birth announcement, and both are in fine condition.