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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Illustration for Franklin Roosevelt at Hyde Park: Discussing Italian Melons
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

Illustration for Franklin Roosevelt at Hyde Park: Discussing Italian Melons

Artifact IDMO 1956.148
Object Type Drawing
Artist (American painter and printmaker, 1904-1981)
Date1949
Mediumpaper (illustration paper, cardboard, matboard), ink, paint (gouache), pencil
Dimensionsmat H 18 in x W 22 in (45.7 cm x 55.9 cm )
 sheet H 10 1/4 in x W 16 1/4 in (26 cm x 41.3 cm )
Physical DescriptionAn original pen and ink and ink wash drawing with gouache highlights featuring a circa 1789 discussion between Dr. John Bard and Dr. Samuel Bard regarding Italian melons. The two men are shown in the left foreground, one standing and one seated, on a small earthen rise planted with melons and dotted with cornstalk bundles. On the right side of the scene, men are picking apples from trees. An orchard is seen in the background. The drawing is signed by the artist in ink in the lower left of the image: Olin Dows © 1949.

The drawing is mounted to a piece of cardboard and comes with a window mat.
Historical NoteThis drawing is one in a series of original ink wash drawings created by Olin Dows for his book, "Franklin Roosevelt at Hyde Park," published in 1949 by American Artists Group, Inc. Olin Dows spent two years writing the text and drawing the book's 174 illustrations. This illustration appears on page 138 of the book. The image is a variation of a 1941 final study (see MO 1968.15.3) done by Dows for the Bard mural in the Hyde Park, New York post office.

The Dows family had been lifelong friends and neighbors of the Roosevelts and were frequent guests at events at Hyde Park, NY and in Washington, DC, both before and during the presidency. In 1939, Olin Dows received a commission to design and paint the murals in the Rhinebeck, NY Post Office. In 1941, at the suggestion of President Roosevelt, Dows was commissioned to design and paint the murals in the Hyde Park Post Office as well, and worked closely with FDR in the conception and design of the murals.
Additional Details
Custodial History NoteDonated to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum by Olin Dows in 1955.
Credit LineGift of Olin Dows
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesHudson River Valley Materials (National Archives Identifier 778818)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
In Collection(s)
Not on view