Old varnish had tinted this work with an unpleasing yellow hue. Careful cleaning lifted the imperfection and allowed a clear surface for new conservation varnish to be applied.

Gerrit Van Sinclair (1890-1955) received his education from the  School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1910 to 1915 under the tutelage of the prominent John Vanderpoel and John Norton. Following his service in World War I, he became an art teacher, first at the Layton School of Art and then at the Oxbow Summer School of Art in Saugatuck, Michigan. He retired in 1954.

Exhibitions of his work, during his lifetime, were held at the Salon d’Automne in Paris, the Whitney Museum in New York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as many other museums and galleries. He was the recipient of many prizes and work commissions, including a W.P.A. mural commission for the Federal Building in Wassau, Wisconsin.