The Bay, Belle-Île
painter
Dodge MacKnight
(American, 1860 - 1950)
Date1890
Place MadeFrance, Europe
MediumWatercolor on paper
Dimensions40.6 x 39.4 cm (16 x 15 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberP11s33
eMuseum ID717506
EmbARK ObjectID10841
TMS Source ID108
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb Commentary
Dodge Macknight painted this watercolor of the island Belle-Île, on the coast of Brittany in northwest France. Rich jewel-toned pigments on a wetted surface capture the depth and dimension on the water’s surface.
Less well known today, Macknight was lauded as Boston’s King of Impressionists in the early 1900s. Isabella Stewart Gardner was one of his most significant patrons and friends. In 1915, she opened the only gallery in her Museum dedicated to a contemporary artist—the Macknight Room.
BibliographyNotesCatalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1912), pp. 1-2. (possibly one of the several watercolors by Macknight listed in the Blue Room)
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), p. 214.
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 69.
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 143-44, ill.
Hannah Chew, "Dodge Macknight: Boston's Watercolor Painter," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2 April 2024, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/dodge-macknight-bostons-watercolor-painter
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), p. 214.
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 69.
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 143-44, ill.
Hannah Chew, "Dodge Macknight: Boston's Watercolor Painter," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 2 April 2024, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/dodge-macknight-bostons-watercolor-painter
MarksNotesInscribed (lower right): Dodge Macknight
Inscribed (verso): (a beach)
Inscribed (verso): (a beach)
ProvenanceNotesOffered for sale at an exhibition of Dodge Macknight's paintings of Belle-Île at the gallery Doll & Richards, Boston from 6-18 March 1891.
Entered Isabella Stewart Gardner's collection at an unknown date.
Entered Isabella Stewart Gardner's collection at an unknown date.
