1896 - 1974
Sample's father was a construction engineer whose work took him all over the United States. Sample attended high school in Chicago and then entered Dartmouth College where he was active in football, basketball and boxing. He received is B.A. degree in 1921 after service in World War I. Soon after graduation both he and his brother, Donald, came down with tuberculosis. They recovered at Saranack Lake, NY where Sample studied painting with Jonas Lie whose summer studio was nearby.
In 1924 the brothers went to New York City, but soon thereafter they relocated to California on account of the failing health of Donald. The brothers settled in Pasadena, but Donald's health declined, and he died. Sample remained on the west coast and entered the Otis Art Institute. By 1925 he was teaching architectural drawing part-time at the University of Southern California and by 1926 was assistant professor and later head of the painting department there, where he remained until 1936. His work was shown widely and he joined the circle of artists Millard Sheets, Dan Lutz and Phil Paradise. In 1928 he married Sylvia Anne Howland of Montpelier, Vermont and began to spend summers in Vermont painting. In 1934 he had his first one man show in New York at Ferargil Galleries.
In 1936 he and his wife spent a few months in Europe, after which Sample secured an appointment as artist-in-residence at Dartmouth College where he remained until his retirement in 1962.
During World War II Sample served as artist correspondent for Life Magazine, for whom he painted war subjects on an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic, at a submarine base in the Hawaiian Islands and on a submarine patrol mission in the Pacific. In 1937 he did a series of paintings of seaports for Fortune Magazine. He also did murals for post offices in Recondo Beach, California (1937) and Apponaug, Rhode Island (1942).
Sample was a landscape and genre painter. His landscapes of the New England countryside were traiditional and achieved success in commercial publications. His genre work partook of both regionalism and social realism in his depiction of the American scene. He often painted the American labor movement, paritcularly during the depression era. These works are highly designed and complex; they are not atmospheric but rather are constructed with clearly drawn lines and shapes and are influenced by Peter Bruegel.
In 1924 the brothers went to New York City, but soon thereafter they relocated to California on account of the failing health of Donald. The brothers settled in Pasadena, but Donald's health declined, and he died. Sample remained on the west coast and entered the Otis Art Institute. By 1925 he was teaching architectural drawing part-time at the University of Southern California and by 1926 was assistant professor and later head of the painting department there, where he remained until 1936. His work was shown widely and he joined the circle of artists Millard Sheets, Dan Lutz and Phil Paradise. In 1928 he married Sylvia Anne Howland of Montpelier, Vermont and began to spend summers in Vermont painting. In 1934 he had his first one man show in New York at Ferargil Galleries.
In 1936 he and his wife spent a few months in Europe, after which Sample secured an appointment as artist-in-residence at Dartmouth College where he remained until his retirement in 1962.
During World War II Sample served as artist correspondent for Life Magazine, for whom he painted war subjects on an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic, at a submarine base in the Hawaiian Islands and on a submarine patrol mission in the Pacific. In 1937 he did a series of paintings of seaports for Fortune Magazine. He also did murals for post offices in Recondo Beach, California (1937) and Apponaug, Rhode Island (1942).
Sample was a landscape and genre painter. His landscapes of the New England countryside were traiditional and achieved success in commercial publications. His genre work partook of both regionalism and social realism in his depiction of the American scene. He often painted the American labor movement, paritcularly during the depression era. These works are highly designed and complex; they are not atmospheric but rather are constructed with clearly drawn lines and shapes and are influenced by Peter Bruegel.
