Subject: Boy and Dog Looking Out to Sea
Title: Unknown
Artist: D. Gillander
Date: Unknown, c. mid to late 20th century
Size: 20″ x 24″
Media: Paint on canvas
A boy and his dog is a classic theme. A dog is man’s best friend. This duo touches the memory and emotions.
I can’t quite remember why this painting clicks in my head. It seems familiar. I think it is using the style and colors of an illustrator from the 1960s or 70s. Maybe it’s Joan Walsh Anglund, b. 1926.
Another possibility might be the illustrator Susan Perl, 1922-1983.
It is not hard to find results for an internet search for, “painting boy dog sea.” Turns out to be a popular subject, and the styles are quite diverse. There is also a webpage, wallpaperboat.com/sad-boy-wallpapers.
The oldest one I found is “Outward Bound (The Stay at Homes/Looking Out to Sea),” a story illustration for Ladies’ Home Journal, by Norman Rockwell in October 1927. According to the Norman Rockwell Museum, “In the summer of 1912, Rockwell spent three months studying painting with Charles Hawthorne in Provinctown, Massachusettes. Hawthorne had studied plein air painting (painting out-of-doors) with William Merritt Chase. In Rockwell’s painterly treatment of the roofs, waves, trees, grass and man’s trousers, we see the influence of Chase’s impressionistic style.” (1)
This painting is signed D. Gillander in the lower right corner. I am confident that this is not the Canadian artist David Gillanders, b. 1968. I think the artist could be a local hobbyist, since the painting was purchased at a thrift store for less than $10 and is unframed.
This is a baby blue painting of a boy and his dog at the end of the pier. They are looking into the distance, into the sea and sky, into the horizon. Are they longing to leave? Are they waiting for someone to return? A young person might stare into the future with wistful hope. Men sail the wide ocean for fortune and adventure. To test themselves and to make their reputations. A young person might wish to escape his dull village. This boy is ready with his sailor’s uniform.
He faces more than water. The fishing boat is headed away. It’s nets are poised to capture fish. On the far distant shore, a building points into the sky. Is it a lighthouse or a church? It points up to a single bird in heaven. Most of this painting is a troubled cloudy sky.
Could this sea bird refer to older paintings of the dove of the Holy Ghost descending to bless the young Son beginning His earthly ministry? The bird is certainly in the center of the composition. It flies over the cross-shaped mast of the fishing boat. These symbols are not unknown to the Christian eye.
The writing on the back of this stretched canvas says, “FLS 1143,” and “HOB $75.”
If you would like to own a custom painting of you and your dog on a dock, it costs $55 from unifury.com. (2)
Sources:
- Rockwell’s Outward Bound. https://prints.nrm.org/detail/281623/rockwell-outward-bound-the-stay-at-homes-looking-out-to-sea-1927
- Unifury custom art. https://unifury.com/products/dog-2271
Rumpus Art Panel 