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.

Modernism in Taos

Taos #5 - 1948

Recently re-reading David L. Witt's book, Modernists in Taos: From Dasburg to Martin, I was struck by the impact Dad's 1948 summer in Taos had on his subsequent work, and probably also his teaching and writing.  In Taos to attend Louis Ribak's Taos Valley Art School, Dad would have had contact with some of the most forward-looking artists of his day and seen their work first-hand.  Among these artists were Ribak and his wife, Beatrice Mandelman, Andrew Dasburg, John Marin, Tom Benrimo and many more, who made this tiny New Mexico town a vital center for the development of Modern art.  I believe Dad stayed in contact with Benrimo, and certainly with Louis and Bea Mandelman, who later lived part-time in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, as did my parents.

Dad must have felt that in Taos he was at the forefront of current painting practice.  Already familiar with John Marin's watercolors and an accomplished watercolorist himself, Dad's loose handling of the medium, and often his breaking up of pictorial space, must have received additional impetus that summer.

These two aspects of his painting, the looseness of paint handling and the Cezannesque/Dasburg/Marin
breaking up of the picture plane, remained constant threads throughout Dad's career.  He taught them to his students in Stamford, and also students of his widely-used high school textbook, Brush and Palette.

Watercolors

When I was a child, we spent the glorious months of summer in Rockport, on Cape Ann, Massachusetts. In the mornings, Dad would disappear from whatever tiny rental we had that year, and return with a new watercolor of Gloucester - the fishing boats, the harbor, or maybe the surf crashing on Bass Rocks. Then we would all have lunch and go to the beach.

Dad belonged to the Rockport Art Association, so we often stopped in to their gallery on some business, or to attend an opening. I believe Dad was one of the more forward-thinking, or "modern" of the group. His bold use of watercolor stood out among the careful "realism" of most of the painters.

Here is a harbor scene. This painting hangs in Mom's apartment to remind us of those sunny summers in the '50's.