The Romance of Land and Sea, Cuttyhunk Island by Joseph McGurl

"<i>The Romance of Land and Sea</i> is of Cuttyhunk Island. Cuttyhunk is a sparsely inhabited Island off the Massachusetts coast.  This painting was based on a plein air sketch painted at the top of the Island looking over the salt ponds which are used for oyster farming. In the distance is a monument dedicated to Bartholomew Gosnold who explored the coast in 1602. The posts of a chain link fence which leads into the composition are indicative of the military use of the island.   The fencing once surrounded World War Two era bunkers which were built as lookouts for spotting submarines coming up Buzzards Bay. There are many anecdotal elements in this painting, but the true subject is the exploration of light, form, space, and color and the use of these elements to translate the multi-dimensional world onto a static two-dimensional surface. With the long view from foreground to the horizon creating a great sense of space, this was an ideal location to address this subject." - Joseph McGurl