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Aiden Lassell Ripley“Rowing on the Charles River, Harvard University” Boston, Cambride, MA Cityscape20th Century
20th Century
$14,000
£10,690.14
€12,171.10
CA$19,658.21
A$21,490.27
CHF 11,369.32
MX$257,165.65
NOK 144,658.28
SEK 132,420.03
DKK 90,910.59
About the Item
“Rowing on the Charles River, Harvard University” by Aiden Lassell Ripley (American, 1896-1969)
A fantastic, rare view of Harvard University and the Charles River by renowned American watercolorist and former Harvard professor, Aiden Lassell Ripley. With his characteristic clarity and mastery of light, Ripley presents the Charles River in a moment of serene activity - rowers glide across its surface, while students and locals enjoy the sunlit expanse of riverbank opposite. The architecture of Harvard’s Lowell House, with its elegant Georgian Revival bell tower, rises proudly above the treeline, anchoring the composition in one of the most storied academic settings in the world.
Executed with both technical precision and poetic flair, Ripley’s treatment of watercolor is masterful. The surface of the river is alive with shifting hues of cobalt, indigo, and slate blue, animated by short horizontal strokes that evoke the shimmering play of light and movement. The lush green of the riverbank offers a vivid contrast to the deeper blues, rendered with a lively mixture of wet-in-wet washes and drybrush textures. His trees are painted with loose, confident gestures that suggest volume and dappled shade without becoming rigid or overworked. This spontaneity is typical of Ripley’s mature watercolors, where gesture is as important as detail.
What sets this painting apart is not only its technical execution, but the harmony between its narrative and compositional elements. Ripley chooses a slightly elevated, almost cinematic viewpoint - likely from the vicinity of the John W. Weeks Footbridge - that allows him to balance the horizontal sweep of the river with the vertical grandeur of Lowell House’s tower. The figures, whether rowing, lounging, or walking, are rendered with understated confidence, their casual movements echoing the broader mood of idyllic, late-summer collegiate life. There is no haste in this scene, only a quiet rhythm that invites reflection.
This work is watercolor on paper and is signed in the lower left. It is matted and framed behind UV acrylic.
Views of Harvard by Ripley, despite his close connection to the university and city, are exceedingly scarce.
Size:
14.75 inches tall by 21 inches wide (sheet)
20.5 inches tall by 26.5 inches wide by 1 inch deep (frame)
Provenance:
Private collection, CT;
Acquired from the above
About the artist:
Aiden Lassell Ripley, painter, watercolor specialist, printmaker, and teacher, was born in Boston on December 31, 1896, and grew up in Wakefield, Massachusetts. He began his studies with Philip Leslie Hale at the Fenway School of Illustration and later at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School under Tarbell and Benson. After serving in World War I, Ripley returned to the Museum School where, in 1917, he won the Paige Traveling Fellowship that enabled him to study abroad for nearly two years in Africa, France and Holland, from 1923 until 1925.
Upon his return to Boston, he received his first one-man show at the Guild of Boston Artists in 1926 where he exhibited paintings that depicted the landscapes done in Europe and Spain and of his native New England. Much to his delight the show was a huge success and one critic, A. J. Philpot of the Boston Globe stated: “The flash from obscurity to fame has come the past week to Aiden L. Ripley, a young Boston painter, has given an unusual thrill to the artists and connoisseurs of this city. In a week he was transformed from an art student to a painter of rank with the foremost of the day in watercolors and his works were being purchased not only by connoisseurs but by some of the foremost artists in Boston–the people who know.” That exhibition revealed Ripley’s strength as a draftsman. He remained closely associated with the Guild for the rest of his career.
Inspired by another successful showing of works held later that year Ripley decided to embark on a summer trip to Scandinavia in 1927. Because of the rave reviews from his exhibitions held the previous year, Ripley continued to find an eager audience for his work. A reviewer for the Boston Post in the St. Botolph exhibition of February 1927 stated: “Several canvases by Aiden L. Ripley are especially notable. Notre Dame is extremely effective. The beautiful cathedral is viewed from the distance, across a bridge. In the foreground, the river is crowded with boats and the walks along the bank with strolling people. Brilliant sunlight and cool shadows are beautifully painted in the canvas called Cataracts–Toledo, the churning water, blue and green and again white, swirls about the reservoir, while in the foreground are ruins of ancient buildings.”
For a time during the Great Depression, Ripley, (like many of his contemporaries) experienced difficulty in selling his landscape paintings depicting the New England countryside. It was during this time that Ripley, (an avid sporting enthusiast) at the behest of his hunting companion incorporated sporting scenes in his work. For Ripley there was no turning back, this formula brought him unparalleled success as an artist in this genre and today he is known as one of the preeminent sportsman and wildlife artists in the country. He was also known for genre, landscapes, portraits, gardens, farms, hunting, fishermen, birds, boats, and a series of Revolutionary War pictures based on the life of Paul Revere.
Ripley was known as a perfectionist when it came to perspective and draftsmanship. His paintings depict a very accurate portrayal of the life of a sportsman during the early to mid part of the twentieth century. Although he worked in oils as well as other materials his mastery over the watercolor medium was especially noteworthy. Many of his paintings reveal a relaxed atmosphere that reminds one of a time when life was less complicated. This was a carryover from his real-life as Ripley believed in simple living and took enjoyment in outdoor recreation and relaxation of all sorts.
He was a member of the Boston Guild of Artists; Boston watercolor Society; Copley Society; American Artists Professional League, Audubon Artists, Boston Art Club; American Watercolor Society; New York Water Color Society; Allied Artists of America; National Society of Mural Painters and others. Ripley was also active in the field of wildlife preservation additionally; he represented various sportsman-related groups in this capacity.
He won recognition and prizes for his work including: Logan Purchase prize and medal, Art Institute of Chicago, IL., 1928; co-winner, first Dacre Bush prize, Boston Watercolor Society, 1929 and others. Ripley was represented by many important galleries including, Kennedy Galleries in New York and others. He taught at the Harvard School of Architecture in 1929.
Condition: Very good overall condition. Rippling/waviness to the sheet inherent to artist’s choice of medium. Old tape along verso edges. Some mat staining around extreme perimeter (covered by matting). No previous restoration. Vintage frame with typical wear. It is ready to be displayed and enjoyed!
All photographs are taken in a well-lit environment using studio lights (set to a cooler temperature) to reveal as much detail as possible. Colors can vary slightly depending on the temperature and strength of your lighting.
- Creator:Aiden Lassell Ripley (1896 - 1969, American)
- Creation Year:20th Century
- Dimensions:Height: 20.5 in (52.07 cm)Width: 26.5 in (67.31 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement Style:
- Period:
- Condition:Very good overall condition. Rippling/waviness to the sheet inherent to artist’s choice of medium. Old tape along verso edges. Some mat staining around extreme perimeter (covered by matting). No previous restoration. Vintage frame with typical wear.
- Gallery Location:Yardley, PA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2911217204382
Aiden Lassell Ripley
Aiden Lassell Ripley, a prominent Boston artist, was best known for his wildlife subjects. He was also an important muralist and illustrator earlier in his career. Born in 1896, Ripley was a prominent American artist renowned for his hunting and fishing paintings. Having had an interest in drawing from an early age, Ripley went on to study at the Fenway School of Illustration.
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