Lot Essay
'For every painting of a derelict engine or paddle-steamer there are several where they are up and running. Captain Shreve's snag boat, funnels ablaze, goes about its business along the banks of the Mississippi tributary, the Red River, where the town of his name was to be built. Paddle-steamers, like water-borne cities, glitter down the vast waterway or slide by ruined estates. With sparks flaring, funnels (ornately topped like classical capitals) converse with ruined columns of the Windsor Plantation on slopes of the Mississippi River.
A simpler contrast (humble function versus bygone glory) is found in the late painting, Windsor Ruins, Mississippi (1989).' (D. Bassett, Fix: The Art and Life of Felix Kelly, Auckland, 2006, p. 196).
A simpler contrast (humble function versus bygone glory) is found in the late painting, Windsor Ruins, Mississippi (1989).' (D. Bassett, Fix: The Art and Life of Felix Kelly, Auckland, 2006, p. 196).