Frank W. Benson - Resting on the Kedgwick, 1927 by user from Antiques & Fine Art magazine

STEPHEN B. O’BRIEN, JR. FINE ARTS
Sold to a private collector
Frank W. Benson
(American, 1862–1951)
Resting on the Kedgwick, 1927
Watercolor, 19 x 24 inches
Courtesy of Stephen B. O’Brien, Jr. Fine Arts

“This newly discovered watercolor is a quintessential Benson,” notes Faith Andrews Bedford, author and expert on the artist. The location is Canada’s Gaspé Peninsula, where, with “bravura brushwork,” Benson captured “the rippling water and quality of sunshine at the end of a long day fishing.” Descended in one family since 1928, the bright watercolor adds to the documentation of Benson’s splendid output of sporting art.

Two letters written by Benson to the previous owner’s grandfather accompanied the painting and illuminate the artist’s love of the outdoors and his preference for watercolors. One describes a 1921 salmon fishing trip with artist Willard Metcalf (American, 1858–1925); “I took watercolors with me because I couldn’t lug oils and canvasses into the woods,” writes Benson. In the second letter, Benson recalls, “Some of my best days were on the Kedgwick River. I’ve fished many rivers, but that one had everything I liked.”