06 Classic Marine Paintings by John Whorf, William Bradford, Richard Hayley Lever and Guy Carleton Wiggins, - With Footnotes, #50

John Whorf, American (1903-1959) 
Fisherman's Moons
Watercolor and gouache on paper
14 1/2 x 21 inches (sight)#Marine #Art #Sea #Zaidan #biography
Private collection

The best times to fish are when the fish are naturally most active. The Sun, Moon, tides, and weather all influence fish activity. For example, fish tend to feed more at sunrise and sunset, and also during a full moon  More on Fisherman's Moons

John Whorf, 1903 - 1959, was a prolific American painter. Born and raised in Winthrop, Massachusetts, Whorf began his artistic education with informal studies with his father, Harry C. Whorf, a graphic designer. John’s mother, took an active interest in the development of their children’s creative pursuits. Whorf began his formal training in the Boston atelier of Sherman Kidd and at the Museum School, where he studied drawing with Philip Leslie Hall and painting with William James. 

Whorf spent summers in Provincetown, Massachusetts, which proved to have a significant influence on the development of his style. In 1919, Whorf traveled to France, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, at which point he began to shift his focus away from oil painting and almost exclusively to watercolors. 

In the 30's, Whorf had permanently settled in Provincetown. Whorf enjoyed depicting a side of the summer resort town that vacationers seldom experienced, finding poetry in Cape Cod’s off-season beauty. 

His paintings may be found in numerous prestigious museum collections, among them the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, New York and The Art Institute of Chicago in Illinois, as well as in the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy and the National Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. More John Whorf

William Bradford, American (1823-1892) 
Ship Off the Coast of Labrador 
Oil on canvas backed by panel
9 x 14 inches
Private collection

Labrador is the continental part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle. It is the largest and northernmost geographical region in Atlantic Canada. More on Labrador

In 1813 the governor of Newfoundland, gave an order that allowed people to settle at will on the island. Prior to that declaration, English fishermen, under the control of the powerful West Country merchants, had come to Newfoundland each spring, returning to England each fall with their fish. Although they were primarily seeking cod, records of the day indicate that better than 25 species of fish were taken on those voyages. More on offshore fishing

William Bradford, (born April 30, 1823, Fairhaven, Mass., U.S.—died April 25, 1892, New York City), U.S. marine painter whose pictures attracted much attention by reason of their novelty and colour effects.

He was a Quaker and a self-taught artist, painting the ships and the marine views he saw along the coasts of Massachusetts, Labrador, and Nova Scotia; he went on several Arctic expeditions with Isaac Hayes and was the first American painter to portray the frozen regions of the north. Bradford was a member of the National Academy of Design, New York City. More on William Bradford

Richard Hayley LeverAmerican (1876-1958) 
Fishing Fleet - Broadstairs England, 1903 
Oil on canvas
10 x 13 inches
Private collection

Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about 80 miles (130 km) east of London. Broadstairs is one of Thanet's seaside resorts, known as the "jewel in Thanet's crown". The town's crest's Latin motto is Stella Maris ("Star of the Sea"). The name derives from a former flight of steps in the chalk cliff, which led from the sands up to the 11th-century shrine of St Mary on the cliff's summit.

A fishing settlement developed in the vicinity of the shrine in the 14th century. This came to be called "Broadstairs". Charles Culmer, son of Waldemar, is supposed to have reconstructed the stairs in 1350. More on Broadstairs

Richard Hayley LeverAmerican (1876-1958) see below

Richard Hayley LeverAmerican (1876-1958) 
The Old Lighthouse and Fleets of St. Ives, c. 1915
Oil on canvas
50 x 60 inches
Private collection

St Ives is a seaside town that lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commercially dependent on fishing. St Ives was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1639. St Ives has become renowned for its number of artists. It was named best seaside town of 2007 by The Guardian newspaper. More on St Ives

Richard Hayley LeverAmerican (1876-1958) see below

Richard Hayley Lever, American (1876-1958) 
Lighthouse with Boats 
oil on panel, unsigned. 
12 x 15 3/4 inches
Private collection

Richard Hayley Lever (28 September 1875 – 6 December 1958) was an Australian-American painter, etcher, lecturer and art teacher. He excelled in painting classes at Prince Alfred College under James Ashton and on leaving school continued to study under Ashton at his Norwood art school. He was a charter member of the Adelaide Easel Club in 1892.

Lever left to England in 1899 to further his career in painting. He moved to St. Ives, a fishing port and artistic colony on the Cornish coast. In St. Ives, Lever shared a studio with Frederick Waugh, and studied painting techniques under the Impressionists Olsson and Algernon Talmage. Lever also painted in the French port villages of Douarnenez and Concarneau, Brittany, directly across the English Channel from St. Ives.

Lever arrived in New York City in 1912 and painted views of the Hudson River, Times Square and Central Park. Upon discovering the American east coast, he painted in Gloucester, MA for several summers and at Marblehead, MA. From 1919 to 1931, Lever taught art classes at the Art Students League of New York where he maintained a Gloucester studio and often traveled to paint on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. In 1924, Lever was commissioned to paint a portrait of the presidential yacht, Mayflower, which was subsequently presented to President Calvin Coolidge in the Cabinet Room of the White House. 

In later life, Lever was inflicted with arthritis in his right hand, which prevented him from further travel and forced him to concentrate on still-life subjects instead. As his arthritis advanced, he taught himself to paint with his left hand. However, following the death of his wife Aida in 1949, Lever was confined to his home, where he continued to paint from 1953 until his death. More on Richard Hayley Lever

Guy Carleton Wiggins, American (1883-1962) 
"Summer Morning" Gloucester 
Oil on board
16 x 12 inches 
Private collection

Gloucester, on Cape Ann in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is part of Massachusetts' North Shore.  An important center of the fishing industry and a popular summer destination, Gloucester consists of an urban core on the north side of the harbor and the outlying neighborhoods. More on Gloucester

Guy Carleton Wiggins NA (February 23, 1883 – April 25, 1962) was an American artist who became famous for his paintings of New York City's snowy streets, landmarks and towering skyscrapers during winter. In 1883 the young Wiggins was born into an artistic family; his father Carleton Wiggins was an accomplished artist who gave his son his first training as a painter. Later he enrolled in architectural school, but changed direction by entering the National Academy of Design to study painting. 

He was born in Brooklyn and made his residence in New York City, a city which often provided subjects for his paintings, as The Metropolitan Tower (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York); Washington Square in Winter (Richmond Art Museum, Indiana); Columbia Circle, Winter (National Gallery of Art, Washington); and Riverside Drive (1915).

Throughout Wiggins' career, he painted in an impressionistic style. He traveled New England painting streams, fields and woodlands capturing on canvas the various seasons of the year. He became one of the youngest members of the Old Lyme Art Colony of Old Lyme, Connecticut, and painted alongside his father, Carleton, Childe Hassam, and Frank Vincent DuMond. Wiggins taught art in New York and Connecticut and enjoyed a long and successful career as a painter.

He died in 1962 while on vacation in St. Augustine, Florida, aged 79. His body was returned home to Connecticut and he is buried in Lyme. His work can be seen in several major museums, including The Art Institute of Chicago, Brooklyn Museum, and Smithsonian American Art Museum. More on Guy Carleton Wiggins



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