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Waterman Tonging for Oysters
Oyster Shuckers
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The Oxford
Museum celebrated the centennial of the birth of
John Moll (1909-1999) with a
major retrospective of his prolific art career
and life in Oxford, Maryland. was exhibited from April 25 through May 31 at Church of the Holy Trinity Rectory,
a lovely and appropriate waterfront
setting near John's home.
The exhibit was curated by Board member Larry Myers.
The exhibit presented a unique opportunity to see the full range
of John's work, including
oils, watercolors, sketches, lithographs, engravings,
architectural murals, book illustrations, note
cards and post cards. His
many types of themes and
graphic mediums were interspersed with reflections on
the man himself by his family and neighbors.
John moved to Oxford with his family from Delaware in
1946, and for the next four
decades he supported them as a freelance artist,
choosing his subjects and marketing his work
himself. Known primarily as a
marine artist, John did far more, recording the homes,
the work places, and the
people of the Eastern Shore as their way of life was
changing forever.
John developed an early passion for marine subjects -
harbors, work boats, docks,
packing houses, light houses, and the waters of the Bay
itself - at the Wilmington Academy of Design,
founded by realists N. C.
Wyeth and Howard Pyle. During the Depression, John
honed his drawing and printing
skills working as a principal illustrator for the
Delaware Federal Writers' Project and the Index
of American Design. His
mastery of drawing directly from life became a hallmark
of his style and work, as were
the influences of other notable WPA artists.
The paintings at left are in the Museum's Collection.
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