Lot 1045
Gifford Beal (American, 1879-1956), Rockport Fishermen
Lot Details & Additional Photographs
Sight 14 1/2 x 21 1/4 in.; Frame dimensions 24 3/4 x 31 1/2 in.
Gifford Beal was an American painter celebrated for his vibrant depictions of New England coastal life, New York City parks, and circus scenes. He was born in New York into an artistic family, the son of William Reynolds Beal and the brother of Reynolds Beal. He studied under William Merritt Chase beginning at age twelve and later attended Princeton University and the Art Students League, where he eventually served as president. Beal began exhibiting while still a student and quickly earned national recognition, becoming a member of the National Academy of Design in 1914.
Working in styles that ranged from Impressionist light and color to more modernist forms, Beal captured scenes of everyday American life with energetic brushwork and a cheerful spirit. He spent summers painting along the coasts of Maine and Massachusetts and also traveled widely, creating watercolors in the Caribbean and West Africa. In addition to his successful easel painting career, Beal completed several important public mural commissions during the Great Depression, and his works entered major museum collections, including The Phillips Collection and Smithsonian American Art Museum.
A very similar watercolor, also dated 1923, is in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art (accession number 31.390).
Even toning and a few minor spots to the sheet, not examined outside the frame.
