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I try and keep up with finding artists of the past. I am slowing down a bit as painting is my main concern, but I always scroll through things. I felt pretty familiar with American watercolorists but John Whorf slipped through my net. He is an accomplished oil painter but made his mark with watercolor. He was an east coaster, and studied in Europe. He also did a lot of study in and around Cape Cod with Charles Hawthorne. That early training shows as I feel his strongest work is the ships and men that populate those shores. You can tell he knows his subject inside and out.

I have chosen my favorites from what I can find of his work online. I do feel that some of his work may be a bit derivative of mostly subject matter from other great artists. Apparently he studied with Sargent and you can see similarities in style and palette. I also see Zorn in his nudes, a bit of Homer, and Pleissner as well as Sorolla. It would bother me more if he weren't such an accomplished painter. His best pieces to me are the one I feel are more personal to him. The men, boats and water of his home.

There is a published book on his work called "John Whorf Rediscovered". It looks to be a gem and is available from AFA Publishing.

Enjoy.