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Lot Essay
Old Pier, Gloucester depicts one of the artist's most celebrated subjects and is rendered in her signature jewel-toned palette and dynamic brushwork. Peterson employs a series of small strokes to create an almost mosaic-like effect in highly expressive tones of blue, pink and yellow offset by pure strokes of white. Jonathan Joseph elaborates on the effect of this characteristic technique: "Her linear construction directed a viewer along a definite course and did not allow the viewer's attention to wander. Her tonal masses dominated lines and defined form, while subtle, thin oscillating lines emphasized form edges to better display the juxtapositioning of dark and light color areas. In some ways, Peterson's paintings resemble cloisonné, in that color is often surrounded by a thin outlining of charcoal or contrasting paint much like the thin wires of cloisonné surround enamel. However, lines do not encompass or totally contain color areas, but combine in a grand decorative order and show control in carefreeness. The work of Peterson becomes a sensuous place in the commonplace movements of nature." (Jane Peterson: An American Artist, Boston, Massachusetts, 1981, p. 17) Old Pier, Gloucester demonstrates Peterson at the height of her abilities.
Old Pier, Gloucester was originally in the collection of Boston publisher A.S. Burack (1908-78), who owned Poet Lore, the pioneer poetry magazine in America, and The Writer, one of the oldest surviving magazines in the country founded in 1887. A writer and editor of scores of books and publisher of several hundred, Burack identified and heralded a number of the literary world’s most talented authors. Burack loved paintings almost as much as books and he frequented the L.A. Bigelow Gallery in Boston, where he was first introduced to Peterson’s work. He collected the artist in depth, eventually buying at least twelve works by the artist, and Old Pier, Gloucester was his personal favorite.
We are grateful to Jonathan Joseph for confirming the authenticity of this lot.
Old Pier, Gloucester was originally in the collection of Boston publisher A.S. Burack (1908-78), who owned Poet Lore, the pioneer poetry magazine in America, and The Writer, one of the oldest surviving magazines in the country founded in 1887. A writer and editor of scores of books and publisher of several hundred, Burack identified and heralded a number of the literary world’s most talented authors. Burack loved paintings almost as much as books and he frequented the L.A. Bigelow Gallery in Boston, where he was first introduced to Peterson’s work. He collected the artist in depth, eventually buying at least twelve works by the artist, and Old Pier, Gloucester was his personal favorite.
We are grateful to Jonathan Joseph for confirming the authenticity of this lot.