ARTIST: Dennis Lyall (Texas, Connecticut, born 1946)
NAME: Great Star Flag
YEAR: 2000
MEDIUM: oil on canvas. Canvas applied to board.
CONDITION: Excellent. No visible inpaint under UV light.
SIGHT SIZE: 14 x 11 inches / 35 x 27 cm
BOARD SIZE: 19 x 15 inches / 48 x 38 cm
SIGNATURE: lower right
NOTE: This painting is the original painting which was published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. 33c Great Star Flag Classic Collection Series stamp issued June 14, 2000. In 1790, Rhode Island joined the Union -- the last of the original 13 colonies to become a state. The American flag proudly displayed a field of 13 red and white stripes, and 13 white stars on a blue canton. By 1794, two new states had joined the Union -- Vermont and Kentucky -- and Congress voted to add two stars and two stripes, making a 15-stars-and-stripes flag. By 1817, five more states had joined the Union. The flag would be too cluttered if a star and stripe were added for each new state, making a 20-stars-and-stripes design. Navy captain and hero of the War of 1812, Samuel Chester Reid proposed a flag design comprising 13 alternate red and white stripes, representing the 13 original colonies, and a blue canton with a star for each state. This design would allow Congress to easily add new stars to the flag without altering the overall pattern. On April 4, 1818, Congress voted to accept Reid's flag design. For every new state that joined the Union, a star would be added to the flag on the following July 4th. Because Congress did not specify how the stars should be arranged, flagmakers experimented with various designs. The Great Star flag of 1818 had 20 stars arranged in the form of a five-pointed star.
PROVENANCE: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation.
CATEGORY: antique vintage painting
AD: ART CONSIGNMENTS WANTED. CONTACT US
SKU#: 120051
US Shipping $49 + insurance.

BIOGRAPHY:
Dennis Lyall is an artist and illustrator with more than 40 years of experience in working with many of the biggest advertisers and publishers in the U.S. A native of Iowa, Dennis doesn't remember a day during his childhood when he didn't have a pencil in his hand. He graduated from the University of Kansas in 1968, and while he was still a student (a junior), he was awarded a Gold Medal for his artwork by the Society of Illustrators in New York. After graduating from college, Dennis began his professional career as a commercial illustrator in Houston, Texas, working for a commercial art studio then opening his own studio and working as a freelance illustrator. In the late 1970s, after finding an agent in New York City -- the "mecca" for commercial illustrators at the time -- Dennis moved his family (wife and daughter) to Norwalk, Connecticut, which is about 50 miles outside of "the City." Dennis is familiar with all forms of artistic expression, but most of his finished work is oil on canvas. And he has worked in all genres, including commercial illustration, portraiture, marine- and Western-style painting. His assignments over the years have included portraits of the 39 signers of the U.S. Constitution and more than 40 postage stamps for the U.S. Postal Service. He also has work in many private collections across the country, plus with the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Texas Historical Commission and Northeastern Utilities.