Lot 60: At the Seashore

Walter Westerly Russell (1871-1963)
At the Seashore
signed and dated 'W Russell '98' (lower right)
oil on canvas
28 x 36 in. (71.1 x 91.4 cm.)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Museum of Art, Carnegie Institute, and elsewhere, Directions in American Painting 1875-1925 , June-August, 1982.
Youngstown, Ohio, Youngstown State University, The John J. McDonough Museum of Art, Inaugural Exhibition , October 1991-May 1992.

Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 5 June 1980, lot 255.
Private collection, Youngstown, Ohio.
Christie's, New York, 4 December 1992, lot 2.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.

Walter Westerly Russell maintained a lifelong affection for children that is prevalent throughout his ouevre . His artistic career began as a child portraitist and among his sitters he lists the children of Teddy Roosevelt as well as the children of Governor Ames of Iowa. He was also an accomplished sculptor and writer and illustrator for childrens books and periodicals such as Collier's Weekly .

At the Seashore seems to have no connection to any of Russell's children's books of the time. The painting's plein air approach suggests that it was not done as an illustration, but reflects the artist's spontaneous pleasure in the activities of children at play.