Oil on canvas, signed and dated 1925 at lower right, inscribed on the verso "The Old Wharf / by Gerrit A. Beneker, 1925 / Provincetown, Mass.," presented in a period gilt frame.

Stretcher size 16 1/4 x 20 in.; Frame dimensions 23 1/2 x 27 1/2 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.

Patch to verso with associated retouch to gable end of wharf; lightly cleaned; ready for display.

$5,000 - 10,000