Art Work | Oil on Canvas | The Orchard Keeper

Oil on Canvas, C. 1955 

Collection of: James M. Dignon

From: Pawnal, Vermont

This quietly powerful portrait is believed to depict Rufus Bellamy, a reclusive cooper who returned to Pownal after World War II to care for one of the last working apple orchards in the southern valley. Bellamy was a man of few words, known for his simple meals of white bread and local cheese, and for a quiet, meticulous way of life. Residents remember him tending his trees at dawn, speaking mostly to the dogs that followed him through the orchard, or muttering softly to the trees themselves. His apples, firm and unusually flavorful, were rumored to have come from grafts he experimented with during his travels, earning him a reputation for producing “spy apples” that seemed almost too perfect for ordinary markets.

Bellamy’s presence in the valley was understated but enduring, a figure who carried the history of craft and cultivation in every gesture, leaving behind a legacy captured in this striking, intimate portrait.

Measurement's: 

W: 30”x H: 40”