Small Boats on the Bayou

Painting

Small Boats on the Bayou In this very impressionistic view of Wades Bayou in Douglas, we see three figures running toward small boats moored on the Bank of the Kalamazoo. The largest of the boats is the Gallinipper, a metal hull life-saving vessel dating from the 1850s once stationed at the lighthouse at the mouth of the Kalamazoo River. The last of its kind, the boat was restored in the 2000s and is displayed in the exhibit “Rowing Them Safely Home” in the boathouse here at the Saugatuck-Douglas History Center. The sharp contrast between yellow-green foliage against blue-gray sky and water create the illusion of intense light and heat. A tree branch seemingly hanging above the viewer is a device which augments another technique, that of layering to create depth in the canvas. Amazingly, one perceives that canvas is not flat but rather one could put his hand into the space the artist represents.

Oil

Saugatuck, Michigan (geographic place)

Fort, Robert "Harry" 1875-1954

Digital data in CatalogIt

Rediscovering a Michigan Painter

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