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Fishwife
1950-1952Paul S. Berry
United States (1915 - 1997)
Object Type:
Painting
Medium and Support:
Oil on canvas
Credit Line:
Art Patrons' Purchase Award, 1952 Rochester - Finger Lakes Exhibition
Accession Number:
1952.50
Location: Not currently on view
For many years, works from the annual Rochester-Finger Lakes Exhibition were purchased by MAG for the permanent collection. Fishwife, by Syracuse artist Paul S. Berry, is an example of such an acquisition made from the 1952 show. Its survival may rest on the fact that it entered the museum’s collection so soon after it was painted, as every August the artist would evaluate the contents of his studio and destroy anything that wasn’t up to his exacting standards.
According to Berry’s widow, Fishwife is painted in a style quite different from most of his work. A turbaned Haitian woman lifts an enormous, wide-eyed fish from a wicker basket; the diagonal line of her muscular arm echoes the ramshackle roofline of the building behind her. The influence of photography is seen in the arm of a third person poking in from the left side of the composition.
[Label text from It Came From the Vault exhibition, 2013]
According to Berry’s widow, Fishwife is painted in a style quite different from most of his work. A turbaned Haitian woman lifts an enormous, wide-eyed fish from a wicker basket; the diagonal line of her muscular arm echoes the ramshackle roofline of the building behind her. The influence of photography is seen in the arm of a third person poking in from the left side of the composition.
[Label text from It Came From the Vault exhibition, 2013]
Marks
Artist's signature, lower right: Paul S. Berry
Provenance
Purchased from the Artist, Fayetteville, NY, out of the 1952 Rochester Finger Lakes Exhibition
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jobs & work
depictions of working, also professions as subcategories
depictions of working, also professions as subcategories
Additional Images
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Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:
- 1952 Rochester Finger Lakes Exhibition Memorial Art Gallery 5/2/1952 - 6/2/1952
- Paintings at the Eastman School of Music 12/23/1953 - 00/00/00
- Loans to Kodak Office Cafeteria Memorial Art Gallery 5/1/1957 - 00/00/00
- From the Permanent Collection- The Working American Memorial Art Gallery 3/8/1980 - 4/6/1980
- It Came from the Vault: Rarely Seen Works from MAG's Collection 3/17/2013 - 6/9/2013
Bibliography
This object has the following bibliographic references:
- Article Author: Rafferty, Rebecca. Article Title: One hundred years of solitude. Article Scope: Mention. City Newspaper. Rochester, NY Issue Date: April 24-30, 2013. Page Number: 24
Portfolio List
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This object is a member of the following portfolios:
Web Links
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It Came from the Vault exhibition catalogue
Entry for this artwork in the It Came from the Vault exhibition catalogue. The exhibition ran from March 17-June 9, 2013