Clarence Millet (American/New Orleans, 1897-1959) , "Sculptor's Holiday", oil on canvas, signed lower right, "National Academy of Design 129th Annual Exhibition 1954" label with artist and title on stretcher, 28 in. x 22 in., period frame . Provenance: Neal Auction Company, June 7, 2003, lot 395; Collection of Noted Preservationist and Aesthete Dorian M. Bennett, New Orleans. Note: Clarence Millet returned to New Orleans in 1924 after completing studies at the Art Students' League in New York. His favored subject during this time was the distinctive buildings and street life of the French Quarter. Millet also taught night classes at the Arts and Crafts Club of New Orleans of which he was a founding member. In December of 1927, a number of members of the Arts and Crafts Club, including Millet, organized the New Orleans Art League. The organization held weekly meetings, organized annual exhibitions at the Delgado Museum of Art, opened studios and mounted traveling exhibitions of members' work. The New Orleans Art League maintained their headquarters in the French Quarter at 630 Toulouse Street in the old Governor Claiborne house. The courtyard, depicted in the work offered here, with its exterior stairway and distinctive archways provided the inspiration for many artistic renderings by artists such as Millet, who maintained a studio in the building, and visitors alike. In this rare perspective on the famous architecture, Millet depicts the discarded tools and works in progress of an anonymous sculptor from the vantage point of the top of the staircase. Ref.: Bonner, Judith. "New Orleans Art League." 64 Parishes. www.64parishes.org. Accessed July 28, 2020.