River Front
by Saul Berman oil on canvas.
Racing by Gerald Sargent Foster, oil on canvas. One-design sailboats charge across the choppy waters of Long Island Sound. Artist Gerald Sargent Foster was an avid yachtsman, who often depicted yachts and races in his art. Although he knew well every detail of these boats, he minimized the technical details to avoid distracting the eye from the clean geometric shapes that dominate the scene. The nature ofsailboats racing in close quarters allowed the artist to create an elegant pattern ofoverlapping hulls and sails silhouetted against the blue water and sky. Yet the geometry is not cool and detached; even Line and color speaks ofthe keen excitement of the race. Even in the teeth ofthe Depression, this sport continued to be popular with wealthy New Yorkers.
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SEA HISTORY 128, AUTUMN 2009