Freighters, East Boston Waterfront
Signed lower left: A. Lassell Ripley ©
Description
Freighters, East Boston Waterfront is a compelling example of Aiden Lassell Ripley’s non-sporting work, demonstrating his talent for elevating the ordinary to the extraordinary: “My approach to painting is realistic but frequently my pictures are a free interpretation of the subject. People and their occupations are an important part of almost everything I paint and usually they express the main interest in the picture.” The painting was exhibited at the American Water Color Society in 1952, where it won the Harriet Sanford Stuart Memorial Purchase Prize, and was also featured in the January 1953 issue of American Artist magazine and in the 1955 book Watercolor Methods.
Provenance
Collection of Mr. L. K. Stuart, Jr., Newark, New York, 1952
By descent to private collection, Newark, New York, circa 1968
Gifted to private collection, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, 1999
With Vose Galleries, Boston, inventory no. 35417, 2009
To private collection, Tavares, Florida, June 2017 to present
Inscriptions
- verso of sheet in pencil: Freighters
- on old paper backing (now gone): “Freighters” / © A. Lassell Ripley / 400.00
Labels
Exhibitions
Eighty-Fifth Annual Exhibition, American Water Color Society, New York, New York, February 21 – March 9, 1952
Literature
1). Watercolor Methods, edited by Norman Kent, 1955, p. 47 (illus.)
2). American Artist magazine, January 1953, “The Watercolor Series: A. Lassell Ripley,” illus. p. 47.*
*This watercolor is accompanied by a photocopy of a letter from the artist to the original owner, thanking him for his help in having the piece reproduced in the American Artist article noted above, and describing for him how he came upon the scene while driving along the East Boston waterfront
Condition
Very good. The painting was cleaned and deacidified in 2009/2010 by Brigitte Boyadjian. It is archivally framed behind museum glass.
