Date: Fri 09-Oct-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

Godel

Full Text:

Godel & Co Autumn Marine Paintings

NEW YORK CITY -- Currently on view at Godel & Co Fine Art, 39A East 72nd

Street, is a wide selection of marine paintings and luminous seascapes of the

caliber rarely seen this side of the Peabody Museum.

The show is a blend of traditional ship portraiture by artists such as James

Bard, Thomas Buttersworth and Antonio Jacobsen, and luminous coastal scenes by

artists like Robert Salmon, Fitz Hugh Lane, Alfred Thompson Bricher and

Francis Silva.

The centerpiece is a rediscovered Fitz Hugh Lane (1806-1865), "Camden Mt.s

from the Graves, 1862" 13 by 22 inches, formerly belonging to Lane's patron

J.L. Stephens, Jr. The works has a surprisingly detailed inscription on the

back in Lane's hand, which reads as follows, "Camden Mt.s from the Graves/F.H.

Lane to J.L. Stephens Jr./Gloucester 1862/A Souvenir of Our Excursion to

Penobscot Bay, Sept. 1855." The salmon colored sunset sky over tranquil waters

recall the kind of works found at the Cape Ann Historical Museum, elite

company indeed.

Besides that exciting discovery, Lane's own teacher, Robert Salmon, is

represented by no less than four examples. The largest is a work titled,

"Packet Ship on the Clyde, 1825," 22‹ by 37 inches, which not only shows the

tightly rendered nautical detail of the three masted Packet ship, but also has

a busy harbor in the distance complete with its own lighthouse. The other

three examples are smaller works, approximately 6 by 8« inches, done during

the artist's 1830s Boston phase, all of which depict coastal views on the

Irish Sea.

Alfred Thompson Bricher (1837-1908) is represented by two large works, one of

which is a large view of women on the rocks, done in the late 1870s, purported

to be Casco Bay, Maine. The other Bricher is an example the artist himself

exhibited at the National Academy of Design in 1895, complete with its

original exhibition label. This work is titled "Morning after a Stormy Night,

Monhegan Island, Maine." The original site being identified as Monhegan is

rare since very few period exhibition labels from the Nineteenth Century

survive to this day, while most examples by this artist are usually poetic

sounding names describing generic sections of coastal New England.

Yet another luminous type scene is a very large oil/canvas by Mauritz F.H.

DeHaas, "Orient Point Beach, LI, 1865." This is one of the largest and

brightest examples by the artist ever to appear, complete with its title

inscribed on the back in the artist's hand. Two paintings by Francis Silva's

round out the luminous group, one is an oil titled "Sunset near Newport," 14

by 24 inches, and the other a watercolor of a lighthouse, "Beach at Point

Judith, RI 1883," 10 by 18 inches.

For those of more traditional ship portrait tastes, James Bard (1815-1897) is

represented by "The Towboat Tittamer, 1864," 30 by 50 inches, formerly in the

collection of the New-York Historical Society, where it hung from 1931 until

its deaccession in 1995. The painting was commissioned by builder Benjamin C.

Terry of Keyport, N.J. Terry was known to have built more than 33 vessels of

all types, of which there are known to be 23 Bard portraits accompanying them.

Thus it made great sense for Bard to paint Raritan Bay in the background,

seeing that the ship was built in the distance and spent much of her time

escorting vessels through these same waters.

Another early New York artist whose work is included is Joseph B. Smith

(1798-1876). "The Bark Wagram off of Staten Island" is a 22 by 30 inch oil on

canvas. Smith is an artist more often found in places like the Peabody Museum

or the Brooklyn Historical Society as his work rarely appears on the market.

Other pure marine artists in the exhibition include Antonio Jacobsen with

"Toot Toot Tug May McGuirl," 22 by 36 inches, oil on canvas; Thomas

Buttersworth, "Total Navy Brig off the Needles of the Isle Wight," 18 by 24

inches, oil on canvas; and Clement Drew, "Ship Passing Boston Light, Outward

Bound, 1884," 9 by 12 inches, oil on board.

Included are examples by Nineteenth Century icon artists not usually thought

of as marine painters. One is a crisp drawing by Winslow Homer, "Schooner near

Gloucester." While Homer did a great deal of marine subject matter, his work

covered so many different subjects, it is impossible to label him as just a

marine artist. The other is a pastel by the expatriate James Abbot MacNeill

Whistler, "Beach Near Hastings." While small in size, it is rather vibrant in

color, a quality not usually seen in his subtle work. Other artists include

Herman Herzog, T. Alexander Harrison, Edward Moran, Frederick J. Waugh, T.

Clarke Oliver, and Granville Perkins.

The gallery is open Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm, and Saturday, 10 am

to 5 pm. The show will hang until October 31. For other information,

212/288-7272.