Edwin Gunn

(1876-1940)

Generally, a seasoned collector does not get tempted by a total unknown. This painting did more than tempt me. I saw it at Spanierman Gallery around 1983 and immediately recognized it as Front Beach, Rockport. A minor listing in Who Was Who yielded little but I received a wonderful letter from the artist William Beal, son of Gifford Beal, after the piece was exhibited at the Rockport Art Association. Beal said that the Gunn family were lifelong residents of the Bronx, with a summer home in Port Clyde, Maine, where William’s wife and relatives frequently visited with the Gunns and with Andrew Wyeth. Edwin Gunn and Andrew Wyeth had a two-man exhibition one summer at the rather small Port Clyde Library. Clearly, Mr. Gunn traveled to Rockport as well. This painting, the only example I’ve ever seen by the artist, prompts an often-asked question by anybody associated with art, “Nobody who paints that well can only have done one; where is all the rest of his work?” In re-reading the 1989 letter, William Beal gives a clue that I never followed up on. He noted a niece inherited a summer cottage and Enid Monaghan, the Port Clyde Postmistress, would know how to reach her. Perhaps it’s not too late.