Another Discovery

Out of the blue, I have been contacted by another collector of my father's paintings, someone I do not know, who sent me this delightful image.  She did not tell me how or when she acquired the painting, but it does have a label on the back from the Boris Mirsky Gallery, once a prominent Boston venue.  She and I speculate that this is a Cape Ann scene, and if anyone recognizes it more specifically, let me know!

A Discovery

An old family friend who I had not heard from in a long time recently sent me this photo.  He's been living with the painting for most of his life.  Mayo gave (sold?) it to his parents, probably in the late 1940's/early 1950's.  It brought to mind other watercolors from that period.

Gloucester Harbor in 1952

A Photo of Gloucester Harbor in 1952

This old picture turned up in a box of memorabilia that my mom had been saving.  I don't know who took it, or why an edge has been cut off, but there is a date on the reverse: 1952.  Wow.  I was two years old then.  Mayo did not work from photographs - in my memory he always gone in the summer mornings, off to "paint the boats."  Perhaps he used this image as a sort of compositional guide or detail guide.  Who knows?

For me this image evokes a constellation sounds, smells and visual memories.  Gorton's Fish factory was near where this was taken, so the smell of fish was always strongly in the air.  As a young child, about the only times I was taken to Gloucester were on shopping and errand expeditions.  We were often there around mid-day, when the noon whistle at the factory sounded.  Do you remember how loud that was?

Pigeon Cove, Circa 1953

My parents rented a little house in Pigeon Cove, on Cape Ann in Massachusetts, for a summer or two.
From the old photos I have of myself and my brother playing in the yard, with boats at anchor behind us, I'd guess it was the summers of 1952 and 1953.  Dad must have loved walking out the door to find these wonderful scenes of granite seawalls, fishing boats and dinghies.

Dad was well known in the region for his bold watercolors that recorded yet abstracted the waterfront scenes of Cape Ann.   At the time, not many New England painters had adapted the lessons of Cubism, of John Marin and Andrew Dasburg, but Dad was always pushing forward into new styles and concepts.  This particular painting was done quickly, almost like a sketch, but fully captures the brilliant light and maritime character of the Cape.

Gloucester Harbor in the '50's

Dad was known for his watercolors of Gloucester Harbor.  I remember family summers in Rockport when Dad would drive off every morning with his paints and tools, returning at lunchtime with a new painting. It was always done at one sitting and emerged from the easel as fresh as a summer's day.  This one has just been donated to the Health Sciences Center at the University of New Mexico.

EDGE OF THE SEA #2

                                                            acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40"
     
Our family is pleased to announce the donation of Dad's painting, Edge of the Sea #2 to Laboure' College in Milton, Massachusetts.  This donation, like several others before it, was facilitated by the wonderful agency, The Art Connection, which provides Boston area non-profit agencies with a storehouse of art to choose from.  Thank-you to everyone who made it possible for this painting to hang in a public setting and be enjoyed as it was meant to be.  A letter from Laboure' Colleges says this work "will help with bringing inspiration and life to our students on a daily basis."

Paintings to the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center

Far Horizon - acrylic on canvas - 36 x46"

One of the paintings we placed in good homes last year was this acrylic, probably from the 1980's.  It's one of the few purely abstract works to survive Dad's habit of painting over older canvases, which he did partly to save buying new canvas and partly because the already existing  colors and shapes gave impetus to his new vision.

Several of Dad's paintings have gone to UNM over the years.  Our family is proud to have them permanently displayed in the several buildings that make up the Health Sciences Center.  We feel that Dad would have been happy to have them on public view, enjoyed by so many faculty members, students, staff and patients.   Lots of credit should go to Chris Fenton, the curator of UNM's program, who does a wonderful job of placing the art where it can best be appreciated.