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Game of Checkers Artist
Charles Drew Cahoon
Charles Drew Cahoon 1861-1951
Harwich, Massachusetts
- Checkers artist Charles Cahoon was
an American painter, printmaker, graphic
artist and photographer from the late 19th
and early 20th century.
- Cahoon's subject matter entailed architecture,
genre scenes, still life, landscapes, seascapes
and winter scenes.
- As an artist, Charles Cahoon became known
for his carefully detailed, softly lit
coastal seascape scenes and peaceful landscapes
surrounding the Cape Cod area.
- Artist Charles Cahoon developed a
style reminiscent of Impressionism in his
early works and later became a more representational
in his realism.
- Many of Charles' themes depicted the
easy charm of fishing villages and scenes
or weather beaten buildings in settings
of soft light and mellow, warm tones.
- Artist Charles painted his images in
his studios in Boston and Harwich and may
actually have created nearly three thousand
works.
- He was a popular and prosperous artist
until the stock market crash of 1929 and
although he continued to create his visions
of the Eastern seaboard area. Checkers
artist Charles Cahoon never quite recaptured
the earlier success he had maintained.
- The ‘Checker
Game’ oil painting depicted
a simple scene of an old man and a young
boy involved in a quiet game at the checkerboard;
the checkers players were shown within
a woodworker’s shop engrossed in
the next move of a checker piece.
- The detailing of setting and rich, warm
colors create a leisurely mood between
the two players, yet cleared represented
the genre moment displayed in the game
of checkers.
- Cahoon was called the ‘Village
Artist’ during his day by
the local newspaper but this title was
meant as one of respect for his vision
and talent; it was recognized that he
created his motifs because of a deep
love of art as well as a deep need to
create the visions in his mind and heart.
"When Charles
Drew Cahoon died in 1951 at the age of 90,
he had no money and the same amount of fame---as
most would define it. He left behind only a
world of color on canvas---sharp eyed and loving
visions of the land around him and of those
things and people he cared for."
Excerpt from ‘At Home Harwich
Cape Cod Massachusetts’
by Marcia J. Monbleau.
A Game of Draughts/Checkers 1886
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