#138 from the Boyhart collection

A Downeaster runs under a full spread of sail and a rosy, luminous afternoon sky in this telling marine narrative painting by Duncan Gleason. Suggestive of the coastal Pacific Ocean with which Gleason was so familiar as an artist and a yachtsman, the rolling swells indicate that the large merchant ship is running somewhat perpendicular to the tide, with her sails aligned to catch the onshore wind. Unconcerned with the direction of the wind, except for the dispersion of its smoke exhaust, a large commercial freighter makes headway in the other direction further out to sea.

Gleason chose to paint many specific subjects; the important works he did of the U.S.S. CONSTITUTION come readily to mind, and the many famous yacht portraits he did for Hollywood elite sailors, such as Errol Flynn, Charlie Champlain and Cecil B. DeMille. He also purposely did a smaller array of different types of ships in action, concerned primarily with the emotion and setting of these ships and not so much their identities. This is one such great example. The massive, atmospheric white cloud bank is alight with color from the reflective sun, in contrasting complement to the deep blues and broad strokes of Gleason’s wet brush throughout the ocean. The sailing ship itself pops in the angle of the full light and obscures some in deeper shadows, giving depth and movement both a presence within the painting.

Breaking sharply around Buoy #8, two men and two others in the cockpit of a California Sloop dip the port bow as they work the sails to combat the rolling Pacific swell. The yacht’s lines match up smartly with Joe Duncan Gleason’s own sloop, DOROTHY, purchased in 1922 and named after his wife. Gleason was a member of the California Yacht Club out of the Greater Los Angeles Harbor, and a frequent sight on the seas, especially in the waters near Catalina Island.

Gleason’s art possess a distinct palette and style that becomes recognizable to a trained eye on sight. This fine painting presents a sloop in full motion, cutting round the large safe water buoy marker through the active Pacific Ocean, the rising swells rising above our line of vision. These buoys are typical along the California coast, marking channels and harbor entrances. The white texture gives body to the froth of the salt water and slicing movement to the yacht. The remarkable sky creates echos of the impressionist masters of France, and Gleason’s Plein Air presentation blending it all into a complete composition.

Gleason returned to California from New York in 1925 and established his Los Angeles studio and home, and a small address label of his is attached verso, along with the original artist label with title. His group of friends included artists and some of Hollywood’s elite, and he often painted their yachts and sailing adventures as well as his own.