Watercolor, house by a river; by Raymond Jay Knuth;1913; watercolor was donated by niece of the artist; signed and dated by the artist

Watercolor on cardboard mat with plastic covering; trees are on left anf right of small house with river on right side of it; label sticker in TR that reads: “Raymond Jay Kunth/b.1902- d. 1968/Cottage along river. 1913 $20;” the back has a typed summary of the artist and reads: “Raymond Jay Knuth was born in Peoria in 1902. His fatrher, William Knuth was a carpenter and contractor. Young Raymond showed a talent for painting and drawing at a very early age. Watercolors given to the Peoria Historical Society by his niece, Mrs. Paul Coltrin, are dated between 1913 and 1916. The young artist studied with local artists and was a good friend of Peoria artist Revere Wistehuff who later did illustrations for Colliers magazine. Raymond Knuth went to the University of Illinois in Champaign to study atchitecture, but suffered a nervous breakdown and was unable to continue in that field. However, in 1927 he designed a house for his parents which they then built at 2411 N. Bigelow St. in Peoria. It became the family home for forty years, and is still occupied by the Coltrins. After recovering from his breakdown, the artist went to Duluth and found employment on the ore boats, where he worked for several years and became a fist class seaman. Returning to Peoria and his family home, he found work at Caterpillar and continued there until retirement. Shortly after retiring he took his own life at age 66. After producing lrge numbers of drawings and watercolors as a teenager, Raymond Knuth never resumed his art studies or returned to painting. However, we are indebted to him for more than two dozen works which show Peoria as it looked in 1912-1916. The Peoria Historical Society is proud to own some of Knuth’s paintings and to offer a selected few for sale for others to enjoy. July 20, 1981”