Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Edward Hopper's 'Martha McKeen of Wellfleet'

Edward Hopper, one of the most famous American artists of the last century, spend many a summer in his Truro cottage overlooking the Bay. In 1944 he painted a water scene that he called The Martha McKeen of Wellfleet, presumably the name of the pictured sailboat. It was revealed in a 1947 Life magazine that Edward named the picture for a friend whose father founded the United Fruit Company. The United Fruit Company was founded by Lorenzo Dow Baker, a native of Wellfleet, in 1899. The United Fruit Company  became the nation's largest importer of bananas and is currently the Chiquita Banana Company.

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