CURRY, John Steuart, (American, 1897-1946): Several Landscape Sketches Inside his Book ''John Steuart Curry's Pageant of America'', 2 drawings on 1 page are dated 1944, signed by Curry and dedicated to Sara Ross. Also included is a handwritten letter by Mrs. Curry to Sara Ross indicating that Mr. Curry and Ross worked together. 1st Sketch measures 4.5'' x 5'' and the 2nd measures 2'' x 4.5''. Curry attended the Art Institute of Chicago, and remained there for two years, supporting himself with odd jobs. He tried to enlist when war was declared but was sent home for being under-age. In 1918 he enrolled at Geneva College, played football for two seasons, and spent the following five years training to earn his money as an illustrator of ''blood-and-thunder'' scenes for a popular western story magazine. Curry set out to paint American subjects and to celebrate American patriotism and regional pride and committed to creating a worthwhile picture or give up painting. There in 1928 from memory he painted his first picture that became famous, Baptism in Kansas, which was recognized nationally as work of a new American genre. In 1930, he had his first one-man exhibition, held at the Whitney Studio Club, and was received enthusiastically by critics. Curry painted many murals for Washington's Government buildings, his work hangs in the Metropolitan Museum and he ranks with top United States artists. He has shown in the Whitney Museum of American Art and in the Chicago Art Institute.