I was at an estate sale earlier this summer and saw this sitting on a shelf.
It's ink on paper and sandwiched between a piece of glass and heavy cardboard. It's held together with a frame of black tape. It only measures approximately 6" by 3.5", but something about it called to me. Maybe the simplicity of the silhouette rendering, the quaintness of the scene of two children playing with a sailboat in a creek, or maybe the 1931 vintage placing this squarely in the depression.
Given the graceful execution of the drawing, I was a little confused by the askew signature. Maybe just following the flow of the creek?
I tried to do some research on the artist, but with a name like "Beacon" it's a little hard to separate Google results of paintings of beacons and paintings by Beacon. More than likely, Beacon is an unknown. Just someone's relative who had a talent with pen and ink.
How about it all you artist types out there (and you know who you are)? Were pen and ink silhouette drawings popular during this period? What is this style of art called? And has anyone ever heard of the mysterious Beacon?
all i know is, silhouettes were super popular for quite a long time (being a good way to get a recognizable likeness of someone before photography came along). being from the 30s, i would hazard to guess it's a something hand-done by someone -- not necessarily a known artist. but you know, i could be totally wrong. : )
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