[By Fred Lynch in Rockport, Massachusetts]
It was with a feeling of inevitability that I drove northeast, to the coast, to draw the red fishing shack that reclines across the harbor of Rockport, Massachusetts. I knew I was joining the ranks of countless artists who have faced the icon—the cliché—the Sphinx of seaside painting in America.
Some claim that it’s the most painted site in the country. If it’s not, it must be near the top of the list. Rockport and next-door Gloucester attracted many artists in the first half of the last century. These fishing towns on Cape Anne were picturesque, full of color, character and fresh air for for artists from the cities. Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, John Sloan, Childe Hassam and Stuart Davis all painted around here. Following those giants were thousands of others, including summer students of the many summer art classes. At one point, the story goes, a student sought out a critique from the well-regarded artist and teacher Lester Hornby and the painting he brought was of the red fishing shack. Exasperated from facing so many paintings of the same subject, he deemed it “Motif #1” and to this day, that’s it’s name.
Motif #1 was built in the 1800s at the height of the Rockport’s fishing days. It was converted to an artist studio by John Buckley in the 1930s. In the 1940s, the building was bought by the town and since then has been leased for fishing-related uses. Tragically, the Blizzard of 1978 crushed the building, but it was restored soon after. The town knew the value of their icon. Rockport is now a summer resort town, but still supporting a fishing community.
As I sat and drew, I heard what sounded like German from a large group eating lunch across the water. I’d be willing to bet good money they were eating lobster rolls. Behind me, couples who seemed to come from far and wide stepped up for photos and selfies. A woman returning to town after a long time told her friends that, as a child, she and her friends would buy ice cream cones and sit here and eat them, while escaping the “Italian kids.” She assumed new groups now bothered the old groups. “There are always problems with the been-here’s and the new-here’s,” she said.
It was a picture-perfect day sitting in Rockport’s harbor. I sat and drew for a few hours and folks passed me by, looking at me as something completely expected—yet another artist drawing yet another picture if Motif #1. I was the cliché.
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| circa 1961 |
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| May 21, 2016 |
