Michael Garland (American, B. 1952) "Huckleberry Finn" Signed lower right. Original Oil painting on Cold Press Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting is the original painting which was published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. 29c The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn stamp issued October 23, 1993. Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835, Mark Twain spent his childhood in Hannibal, Missouri, along the banks of the Mississippi River. As a boy, Twain was exposed to the romance and violence of river life. He was enchanted by the steamships, keelships and huge lumber rafts that coursed the mighty river. And he was awed by the professional gamblers, confidence men and indigent raftsmen, quick to settle their disputes with fists, knives or derringers. Indeed, the Mississippi River and the many intriguing characters who spent their lives along her banks, made an indelible mark on Twain. In his novel Huckleberry Finn, Twain places Huck, the story's narrator, in situations that allow the author to impart the essence of pre-Civil War life along the Mississippi. Considered by many to be Twain's finest work, Huckleberry Finn tells of the moral complexities of a boy's growing up. Huck, the son of the village drunkard, lacks any formal education, is prone to superstition and is sometimes credulous; but he also has an instinctive shrewdness, a persistent cheerfulness and an intuitive propensity for making the right decisions about important matters. Huck and his companion Jim, a runaway slave, make a long journey down the Mississippi. The story is full of adventure, but it also has an underlying theme of man's cruelty to his fellow man, a subject that appeared in many of Twain's later works. Image Size: 14 x 12 in. Overall Size: 17 x 15 in. Unframed. (B14251)