Description
Born in Cincinnati, Potthast studied in Munich and Paris before returning to the United States, where he began spending summers along the coast of New England. There he studied the carefree seaside activities of bathers and picnickers. Although he never married, he was particularly fond of painting young mothers and their children.
Provenance
Charles and Nell Wheeler; Virginia Rose Glidden and Family
Accession Number
2001.41
Medium
oil on panel
Dimensions
Overall: 31.8 x 40.7 cm (12 1/2 x 16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of Virginia Rose Glidden and family and Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
Tags
Painting Early Modern (1901–1950) Oil Painting Panel Painting American
Background & Context
Background Story
Edward H. Potthast (1857-1927) was an American painter best known for his joyful scenes of beachgoers at Coney Island and other New York area beaches, rendered in a bright Impressionist palette. In the Surf (recto) and Beach Study (verso) from c. 1910 is a double-sided work on panel, with a finished beach scene on one side and a study on the other—a format that demonstrates Potthast's working method of making rapid studies on site and then developing them into finished compositions. The recto shows bathers in the surf with Potthast's characteristic bright palette and vigorous brushwork, while the verso study provides insight into his compositional process.
Cultural Impact
Potthast's beach scenes are among the most cheerful and accessible works in American Impressionism, and their popularity has sometimes obscured their technical accomplishment. The double-sided format of In the Surf provides rare insight into Potthast's working method: the verso study shows how he developed his compositions from rapid on-site sketches, and the recto shows the finished result with its characteristic bright palette and vigorous brushwork. The Coney Island beach scenes are both documents of early 20th-century leisure and demonstrations of Impressionist technique applied to American subjects.
Why It Matters
In the Surf is Potthast's working method made visible: a finished beach scene on one side and a compositional study on the other, demonstrating how his cheerful Coney Island scenes were developed from rapid on-site sketches. The double-sided panel is a rare document of an American Impressionist's creative process.
