Swimming Hole

Details

MEAD SCHAEFFER (1898-1980)
Swimming Hole
signed 'Mead Schaeffer' (lower left)
oil and pencil on paperboard
image, 20 ¾ x 16 ¼ in. (52.7 x 41.3 cm.);
overall, 21 ¾ x 17 ¼ in. (55.2 x 43.8 cm.)
Painted circa 1949.

Provenance

Alan M. Goffman, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.
Charles Martignette, Hallandale Beach, Florida.
Estate of the above.
Heritage, Dallas, Texas, 27 October 2009, lot 96269, sold by the above.
The Illustrated Gallery, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, acquired from the above.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 2014.

Literature

The Saturday Evening Post, June 25, 1949, cover illustration.

Further Details

The present work is accompanied by a copy of the June 25, 1949 edition of The Saturday Evening Post.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Quincie Dixon Associate Specialist, Head of Sale

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

qdixon@christies.com +1 212 636 2141

View Condition Report

Lot Essay

The present work initially illustrated the cover of the June 25, 1949 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, accompanied by the following explanation: "Long ago, that dam behind which the East Arlington, Vermont, lads are swimming in Mead Schaeffer's painting made a pond from which ice was cut to store in the icehouse at the right of the picture. Presently George Hughes, another Post cover artist, acquired this pleasant scenery and lived in a house off-picture at the left. He also acquired a crisis; the old dam was crumbling and the pond was so shallow that the unhappy boys couldn't risk their lives in it. So Hughes sank money in the swimmin' hole, rebuilding the community aquatics. By and by he moved away to some still lovelier Vermont scenery. Then it occurred to Neighbor Schaeffer to sell the dam to the Post. Economics are queer things, Hughes feels." (The Saturday Evening Post, June 25, 1949, p. 3)

More from Modern American Art

View All