Menemsha, Massachusetts, Post Office

Details

STEVAN DOHANOS (1907-1994)
Menemsha, Massachusetts, Post Office
signed 'Stevan Dohanos' (lower left)
oil on canvas
39 x 30 in. (99.1 x 76.2 cm.)
Painted circa 1950.

Provenance

The artist.
Old Sculpin Gallery, Edgartown, Massachusetts, 1974.
Mr. and Mrs. William Seward, Menemsha, Massachusetts, acquired from the above.
Private collection, by descent from the above.
Heritage, Dallas, Texas, 16 November 2015, lot 68158, sold by the above.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.

Literature

The Saturday Evening Post, August 26, 1950, cover illustration.

Further Details

The present work is accompanied by a copy of the August 26, 1950 edition of The Saturday Evening Post.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The present work was the cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post on August 26, 1950, accompanied by the following explanation: "When Stevan Dohanos considered what to put on the artist's canvas in his summer-resort scene, he decided, This should be a seascape by colorful old Ben Stahl. So he phoned neighbor Stahl: 'If you'll do this detail, I'll put your face on the artist and thus you will become famous.' Stahl, famous among other things for his wonderful Horatio Hornblower illustrations in the Post, dashed right over to Dohanos' studio, smiled expectantly and cried, 'On with the face!' Dohanos replied firmly, 'First I see that seascape.' Stahl, signing, got busy...The Post sent Stahl a check for $1.65, assuming he would have it framed as a matter of deep sentiment. He cashed it." (The Saturday Evening Post, August 26, 1950, p. 3)

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