Painting the Southern Coast

The Art of West Fraser

West Fraser

• Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781611176957, 9781611176940
• eBook ISBN: 9781611176964
• Topic: Arte
• Subtopic: Arte generale

The beauty and spirit of coastal landscapes and waterways captured and celebrated in art

Painting the Southern Coast: The Art of West Fraser is a stunning collection of the works of West Fraser, one of the nation's most respected painters of representational art. A mastery of his medium and the scope of work ensure his place in southern art history. A true son of the lowcountry, Fraser has dedicated much of his career to capturing the lush, primordial beauty of the Southeast's coastal regions that have been altered by man and time. The 260 works in this book are representative of the sketches, studies, and finished paintings he has generated over his nearly forty-year career, works that depict coastal locales from Winyah Bay, South Carolina, to St. Augustine, Florida, and include Charleston, Hilton Head, Savannah, and the islands of the lowcountry through the Golden Isles of Georgia.

Fraser's goal with each of his paintings is to create a portrait of what he calls "my country." He captures on canvas not only the visual beauty of the landscape, but the spirit and soul of each place. From the sultry streets of Savannah to the winding waterways and unique environs of the region's sea islands, the works included offer a view of the land he loves. Fraser augments his visual tour of the coast with original maps of the region and location coordinates of each painting, enhancing the viewer's knowledge and appreciation of the region as well as Fraser's artistic gift.

Painting the Southern Coast: The Art of West Fraser includes essays by Jean Stern, executive director of the Irvine Museum, and Martha R. Severens, Greenville County Museum of Art curator (1992-2010) and authority on southern art. Fraser has also written an autobiographical essay in which he discusses the experiences and influences that have shaped his work and his life as one of America's noted landscape artists.

Paintings

LIST OF PAINTINGS PINPOINTED ON MAP #1/PLATE 1

Plate Number

2 Many Springs

3 Slave Cabin on the King’s Highway

4 Friendfield Church and the King’s Highway

5 Winter Fog

6 Santee Coastal Reserve

7 Washo Reserve

8 Kinloch Pond

9 Rice Field Cypress

10 East Cooper

11 East Fork

12 A Winter’s Tale

13 Along the Rice Fields

14 Pompion Hill Chapel

15 Anchored and Braced

16 Preparing Mary Margaret

17 Trusty

18 Southeastern Trawler

2

Many Springs

2014 | 26" × 36" OIL | HOPSEWEE PLANTATION, GEORGETOWN, S.C.
LATITUDE 33°12'41.78"N : LONGITUDE 79°23'5.84"W
COLLECTION OF PAM AND LES MUMA

Hopsewee Plantation on the Santee River was built by Thomas Lynch whose son was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The Bermuda Swag, as a decorative eave detail, reflects the influence on colonial South Carolina of the West Indies trade routes. Throughout the southeastern coastal region depicted in this book, there are many slave cabins still standing and many more that have fallen into complete ruin. The Winyah Bay, Santee River Delta, and East Cooper River floodplain represent the northern zone of the rice-growing region that was so important to the economy and influenced the culture of this entire region.

3

Slave Cabin on the King’s Highway

2008 | 24" × 36" OIL | HOBCAW BARONY, GEORGETOWN, S.C.
LATITUDE 33°20'8.65"N : LONGITUDE 79°14'15.43"W
COLLECTION OF MR. AND MRS. GEORGE DEAN JOHNSON JR.

The Friendfield Village is a protected and restored historic Gullah settlement on the Hobcaw Barony property in Georgetown County, South Carolina. The village is on a road that linked the colonies and was once commonly known as the King’s Highway. Prior to colonial development the road was a trail used by Native Americans. Today coastal Highway 17 follows a similar path from Georgia to Boston.

4

Friendfield Church and the King’s Highway

2008 | 20"...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• The Marshes of Glynn
• Acknowledgments
• The Light of the South
• My Story
• Sunset Point of Pines
• The Artist in Perspective: West Fraser’s Love Affair with the Southeastern Coast
• The Paintings
• Index