Oil on board, signed and dated 1921 to recto, signed and dated 1918 to verso, a double-sided work, the recto features a rolling landscape with houses, the verso a sunny springtime landscape with trees, presented in a later frame.

Board 12 x 16 1/4 in.; Frame dimension 14 3/4 x 18 3/4 in.

Gerrit Beneker was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He began his art studies at the Chicago Art Institute under the tutelage of John Vonderpoel and Frederick Richardson. He later moved to New York and studied at the Art Students League. In 1912, Beneker began his studies with Charles Hawthorne at the Cape Cod School of Art.

Beneker's primary focus was to honor the workingman. Many of his paintings portrayed industrial workers toiling bravely in factories, steel mills, and building sites throughout the Midwest and along the East Coast. He was also a sought after illustrator; whose commissions included illustrations for Ivory Soap, Scientific American, Harper's Weekly, and a popular poster for the US Navy, Sure We'll Finish the Job.

In 1920, Beneker purchased a summer home in Truro, Massachusetts. Despite moving around the country to follow commissions, he and his family loved the rolling hills, water vistas and bright sunlight found on Cape Cod. He developed an advanced impressionist technique, as evident in the painting here. He was a founder of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. He also exhibited frequently throughout his career at such prominent venues as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Scarab Club in Detroit, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Corcoran Gallery and the Detroit Institute of Art.

Some paint loss to edges of board (verso); light surface grime to both sides; one small paint flake at foot of second hill; area of paint loss to lower left edge approximately 1 inch above signature. No evidence of restoration or retouch visible under UV light.

$1,000 - 3,000