As he had in Giverny, Wendel found plenty of inspiring subject matter only a short distance from his home on County Street, as seen in The Lower River, Ipswich, which depicts a view looking across the town’s main waterway towards the Benjamin Ellsworth house on the corner of Hovey and Water Streets.

More information about this painting...

The sweeping arch of the shoreline carries the viewer’s eyes into and through the composition, while the vibrant palette, which became a hallmark of his North Shore paintings, conveys the feeling of crisp autumn air and warm sunlight falling upon trees and grass. 

Provenance:

By descent through the family of the artist

Labels:

1). Previous Vose Galleries label, inventory no. 26719
2). (on frame) Whitney Museum of American Art, New York / Artist: Theodore Wendel / Title: The Lower River, Ipswich / Date: 1908 Catalogue No.: 16 / Lender: Mr./Mrs. Daniel S. Wendel / Exhibition: Oct 15 – Dec. 5, 1976
3). Smithsonian Institute Traveling Exhibition Service, Washington, DC / Exhibition: American Impressionism / 03-30-82 to 05-30-82-Musee du Petit Palais / Paris, France / 06-15-82 to 07-25-82-National Gallery, East Berlin / German Democratic Republic / 08-15-82 to 09-25-82-Museum Moderner Kunst / Schweizergarten, Vienna / 10-24-82 to 11-24-82-Art Museum, Socialist Republic / Bucharest, Romania / 12-26-82 to 01-31-83-National Art Gallery / Sofia, Bulgaria
4). (on frame) Smithsonian Institute Traveling Exhibition Service, Washington, DC / checklist number: 80 / packing case: 30 / Object: “The Lower River, Ipswich”, 1908 / Oil on canvas, Theodore Wendel / Lender: Vose Galleries

Literature:

Buckley, Laurene. Theodore Wendel: True Notes of American Impressionism (North Adams, MA: The Artist Book Foundation, 2018), Plate 35, p. 136

Exhibitions:

1). Theodore Wendel: An American Impressionist, 1859-1932, Whitney Museum of American Art, October 16 – December 5, 1976
2). American Impressionism, traveling exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Institute, opened at the Musee du Petit Palais, Paris, France, March 30 – May 30, 1982 (the exhibition traveled to museums in East Berlin, Vienna, Bucharest, and Sofia for the remainder of 1982 through January 31, 1983)
3). Bringing to Light: Theodore Wendel, Vose Galleries, Boston, October 19 – December 7, 2019