John Brown with a Banjo

“John Brown with a Banjo” is a pastel painting and is roughly 8 x 11.5 in. My sister Jeannie and I mad an epic YouTube video a few years ago about the original painting which hangs in the Kansas State Capitol. Watch it HERE. Unfortunately when we visited the capitol building, there was some work being done and the famous painting was coved for protection. So we decided to try to find the grave of the painter John Steuart Curry. You’ll have to watch the video to see what we discovered.

John Brown was perhaps the most famous abolitionist in the years leading up to the civil war and he was most active in the early days of the state of Kansas.

Why the banjo? In the original painting he is holding a rifle, but my sister plays Banjo in the bluegrass band "Maw, I decided to make and give this to her as a birthday present.