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William C. GrauerWILLIAM C GRAUER Caribbean Fishermen boats fishing nets 1950s Cleveland SchoolCirca 1950
Circa 1950
$1,500
£1,140.98
€1,315.22
CA$2,129.68
A$2,285.63
CHF 1,225.19
MX$27,506.49
NOK 15,447.80
SEK 14,086.25
DKK 9,824.71
About the Item
This 1950s watercolor by William C. Grauer, about 10 by 13 inches, shows a Caribbean fishing village on an ordinary working day. Nothing dramatic is happening, yet the scene feels full and alive. Nets are strung up to dry along a row of poles, a red boat rests on the shore, and a small group of figures moves in and out of the space between them. Grauer turns this familiar routine into something quietly impressive.
The painting is built in simple bands of space. At the top, the sky is handled in broad washes of blue and violet, the colors drifting into one another in that loose, easy way watercolor allows. Beneath it sits a dark ridge of hills, painted in deep blue‑green. That solid band of land makes the pale nets in front of it stand out, almost as if they are catching the last strong light of the day. Below, the foreground breaks into patches of ochre, rust, and deep purple that suggest sand, rock, and water without spelling them out too literally.
The nets are the heart of the picture. Grauer doesn’t try to draw them strand by strand. Instead he layers quick vertical and diagonal lines, letting them cross and thin out so that the idea of mesh comes through more than the literal detail. Bits of warm color flicker through—soft browns, rusty reds, touches of green—so the nets look sun‑worn and used rather than pristine. They hang like a great curtain behind the figures, turning a piece of working gear into a kind of accidental stage set.
The people along the shore are small but important. A few stand talking near the red boat; others seem to be checking the nets or gathering gear. Grauer paints them with just enough information: a curve of a back, the angle of a hat, a block of color for a skirt or shirt. You can’t see faces, but you can read posture and gesture. The figures feel relaxed and unselfconscious, as if the painter simply caught them in the middle of what they were already doing.
Color carries a lot of the mood. The rich blues and greens in the mountains and sky hint at humid air and late‑day light. The red of the boat cuts sharply through the softer tones around it and naturally draws your eye to the center of the activity. In the foreground, the looser, more abstract marks give a sense of movement underfoot, as if the ground itself is a mix of wet sand, stones, and reflections.
Although the scene is easy to recognize, there is a clear sense of design behind it. The repeated verticals of the poles, the long diagonal of the shoreline, and the broad horizontal layers of sky, land, and foreground give the picture a solid structure. Grauer keeps everything shallow and close to the surface of the paper, so the eye moves back and forth across the nets and figures rather than disappearing into deep distance. It feels modern without trying to be clever about it.
What comes through most strongly is Grauer’s respect for the place and the people he’s painting. The village is not presented as an exotic backdrop; it’s a working harbor where nets must be mended and boats pulled in. The beauty lies in the way light hits those nets, in the contrast between the dark mountain and the bright strip of shore, and in the quiet coordination of people who know their work well.
For a relatively small watercolor, the piece holds a lot: atmosphere, daily labor, and a thoughtful, mid‑century sense of composition. It feels like a moment honestly observed and carefully shaped, rather than a pose arranged for effect.
Signed lower right.
Framed Dimensions: 21 x 24 inches
PROVENANCE: The Artist, Cleveland, Ohio;
Acquired from the above over a 50 year period by a relative of the artist, Rancho Santa Fe, California.
- Creator:William C. Grauer (1896, American)
- Creation Year:Circa 1950
- Dimensions:Height: 10 in (25.4 cm)Width: 13 in (33.02 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement Style:
- Period:
- Condition:In very fine, age appropriate condition.
- Gallery Location:Rancho Santa Fe, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU516317215302
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