“Few there are who have been content to paint marines solely as interpreting its moods in storm, in restlessness after storm, in mystical beauty of moonlight, in vast spaces and aerial infinities. This individuality of the sea Paul Dougherty has set himself to translate into the terms of his art, and has achieved so much unity of effect that his marines are Homeric in simplicity and in elementary strength.”[1]

                                                                                                -- Edwin A. Rockwell, The International Studio

More information about this painting...

Painted around 1910, St. Ives, Cornwall demonstrates Dougherty's talent for rendering the powerful currents and windblown surf that drew many artists to the region, especially marine painters interested in capturing the confluence of wind and water along England’s rugged coastline. The perspective of this composition is unique among the artist’s oeuvre, however, for his decision to paint the village, including the familiar tower of Parish Church, set under a partly cloudy sky. With the seas churning and glimmers of sunlight beyond the hills, one wonders if the scene depicts unsettled weather having finally broken or if Dougherty has captured the portentous moment before the storm descends.

Provenance:

By descent through the artist’s family to the collection of his daughter
With Vose Galleries, Boston, inventory no. 26918, 1981
To private collection, Wakefield, Rhode Island, October 1981
By descent to collector’s son, private collection, Wakefield, Rhode Island, 2017 to present

Labels:

1). Previous Vose Galleries label, inventory no. 26918
2). Portland Museum of Art / Paul Dougherty: A Retrospective / 16 March – 9 April 1978 / Paul Dougherty / American, 1877 – 1947 / St. Ives, 1910 / oil on canvas, 26 x 36” / Lent by Lisa Dougherty Coon / cat. no. 17

Exhibitions:

Paul Dougherty: A Retrospective Exhibition, Portland Museum of Art Portland, Maine, March 16 – April 9, 1978 (this show traveled to the Fitchburg Art Museum, Massachusetts; the Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, CT; the New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut; and the Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Massachusetts), illustrated on the back cover of the exhibition catalogue