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Dimensions: measurements 43 1/4 by 30 in. alternate measurements 109.8 by 76.2 cm

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Provenance: Ransom Art Galleries, Oklahoma City (in 1958)
Private Collection, Wichita, Kansas (acquired from the above)
Dwight Button, Wichita, Kansas
Thence by descent

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Exhibited:

Fourth National Bank, Wichita, Kansas, circa 1960s

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Notes: PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE MIDWEST COLLECTOR
Painted circa 1902. Sunny Hours was heavily reproduced in the years following its completion and as late as 1908 Bibby's Annual printed an image of the work with the following caption: "A true glimpse of the happiness of childhood, and the brightest side of maternal cares. The picture is aptly named and registers, like the sun-dial, only sunny hours." Here Morgan shows a mother tenderly resting her curious baby on a garden sundial, while the child's elder sister looks on with enthusiasm, standing on tiptoe to join in the fun. The gentle expressions on each of their faces give a charming insight into their happy family life. Morgan employed members of his family as his models - Mary, Courtenay and baby Dorothea. The ages of the children indicate that Morgan began the painting circa 1898. The sundial was a popular feature of the formal English garden along with other statuary, as seen at the top of the garden steps at upper right. The grotesque faces which decorate the base of the dial are classically inspired, and serve as a reminder that the sundial is an ancient and highly accurate method of telling time. Originating in obelisk form in 3500 BC in Egypt, sundials were refined in ancient Greece. Here the sundial acts as a central element in the composition, as well as being a reminder that time is quickly passing for these young children and their mother. The roses, strewn at the base of the instrument, also act as a visual cue that just as flowers bloom and fade in almost no time at all, so too does youth. The quiet, everyday joys of life and family - the proverbial smelling of the roses - is a critical part of the happiness so much in evident in Fred Morgan's charming subjects.