A Life of Labor and Light Before he was a fixture of the American art scene, Jerry Farnsworth lived a life defined by the grit of manual work. Born in Dalton, Georgia, in 1895, his early years were far removed from the quietude of a studio. He moved through various roles that demanded physical endurance, working in cotton and steel mills, serving as a Western Union messenger boy, and even laboring as a Fuller Brush man. There was a ce…