Fisherman's Wharf

'Fisherman's Wharf,' Watercolor on Paper, by Morris Blackburn

In this New England wharf scene, Morris Blackburn composes a familiar assemblage of boats, dock, and weathered, wooden buildings against a crisp blue morning sky with light clouds. His expert handling of the watercolor medium is evident with the clean lines of the buildings and boats giving structure to the painting. The painting evokes smells of the salty sea air as fishermen don their equipment for their work day. The painting has been recently matted with archival materials utilizing the original frame.

Morris Blackburn was born in Philadelphia in 1902. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and with Arthur B. Carles, Jr. He won Cresson Traveling Scholarship to Europe in 1928 and 1929, and was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in painting and graphic art in 1952.

In addition to his work as a painter, he is well known for his accomplishments as an etcher, engraver, lithographer and serigrapher. Among Mr. Blackburn's awards are the John Gribbel Prize, Philadelphia Print Club, 1942; Gold Medal, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1946; Fellowship Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1949; Rosenwald Fund Grant, Print Club, 1950; Mary S. Collins Prize, Print Club, 1950; Harrison S. Morris Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1951; Thornton Oakley Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1960. He is represented in the following public collections: Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Butler Institute of American Art, the Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, the Clearwater Museum, the United States State Department, Free Library of Philadelphia, Woodmere Art Museum, Pennsylvania State University, Library of Congress, Childe Hassam Fund-University of Montana, Fleisher Art Memorial, Friends Central School, and the New Jersey State Museum. Mr. Blackburn had many one-man exhibitions and his work has been shown widely in the United States, as well as in Europe, Canada and India. He also served on the faculty of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Blackburn died in 1979.

Christie's tag on back and damage to the frame as seen in photos.