Aiden Lassell Ripley (1896-1969), The Rock in the River

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The Winter Sale 2022, Day 1

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Mar 4, 2022

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• Lot Description
  Aiden Lassell Ripley (1896-1969)
  The Rock in the River
  signed "A. Lassell Ripley ©" lower left
  watercolor, 19 1/2 by 29 1/2 in.
  inscribed "'The Rock in the River' © A. Lassell Ripley, Upper Glory Hole on the Northwest Miramichi" on label on back
  Kennedy Galleries and The Sporting Gallery and Bookshop labels on the back
  
  Born in Wakefield, Massachusetts, Aiden Lassell Ripley was the son of a Boston Symphony Orchestra musician. From an early age he excelled at music, but he soon discovered a deeper interest in painting. By his mid-teens, Ripley was committed to a career in art, commuting into Boston to take classes. After returning from service in World War I, he attended the Boston Museum School where he studied with the country's top artists, including Philip Leslie Hale (1865-1934) and Frank W. Benson (1862-1951).
  
  Ripley was awarded a Paige Traveling Fellowship to study in Europe. While abroad, he painted watercolors "en plein air" in North Africa, France, and Holland. Upon his return in 1925, he was elected to the prestigious Guild of Boston Artists. His work focused on the New England countryside as well as depictions of city life and railroad commuting scenes. The Great Depression, however, limited the sales potential for these works. Following a successful one-man show of his sporting art in 1930, Ripley decided to change tack and specialize in hunting, fishing, and outdoor scenes as subjects.
  
  Along with his contemporary Ogden Pleissner (1905-1983), Ripley exemplified the life of a successful sporting artist. Collectors of Ripley’s sporting art endorsed his numerous trips to the salmon rivers of New Brunswick and the quail plantations of Georgia, where the artist indulged his passion for hunting and fishing while recording material he would use in his art.
  
  Of the numerous watercolors depicting Ripley's beloved salmon fishing, perhaps none better captures the essence, joy, and beauty of the pursuit better than "The Rock in the River." Prominently featured in "The Art of Aiden Lassell Ripley," this masterwork stands as one of Ripley's pinnacle works.
  
  Provenance: Thomas W. Sheppard Collection
  Private Collection, Massachusetts
  
  Literature: Stephen B. O'Brien Jr. and Julie Carlson Wildfeuer, "The Art of Aiden Lassell Ripley," Boston, MA, 2009, pp. 164-165, pl. 151, illustrated.

  Condition

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