Following a year-long honeymoon spent exploring France and Italy, the Wendels relocated to Philena’s ancestral homestead in Ipswich, where the village and the family’s Lower and Upper Farms on Argilla Road would serve as the artist’s personal version of Giverny for the latter part of his career. Although firmly planted in Ipswich, Wendel continued to explore other sites along the North Shore in search of subject matter, as seen in Woman in Flower Garden, Cape Ann.

More information about this painting...

While other painters of the region focused on the hustle and bustle of the active fishing ports of Gloucester and Rockport, Wendel preferred to capture the idyllic side of the community; in place of schooners and crowds of fishermen unloading the day’s catch, we find a lone figure in a sun-splashed seaside garden, rendered with a pleasing color palette and gentle brushwork, and a few cleverly placed strokes of red, pink and gold among the blossoming greenery.

Provenance:

By descent through the family of the artist

Exhibitions:

Bringing to Light: Theodore Wendel, Vose Galleries, Boston, October 19 – December 7, 2019