Blessing the Boats
Blessing of the Boats is among the most beloved works of art in the Union League Club Chicago. The immense size, overall grandeur, and attention to detail aside, the appeal is understandable. The viewer is swept up by the emotion and piety evoked in this Normandy fishing village of Étaples. The artist Robert Reid spent time in the picturesque town. The residents have gathered for the ritual blessing of the boats. At the time, the sea provided both livelihood and unpredictable danger to the sailors. The farewell on the shore might very well be the last; sea journeys were often perilous. To safeguard the sons and husbands heading out, the town prays with the priest and altar boy towards the large crucifix. It is the tallest object in the composition, thus signaling its importance. The crowd has gathered on a cold, windy morning; many kneel in the wet sand. Reid has painted in the foreground a charming depiction of a young mother holding a baby who arrestingly glances out towards the viewer. The mother’s apron swings out and upwards, signaling the breezy conditions. A young boy, likely the son, has separated and gazes towards the praying crowd and priest. The ships are merely hinted; the harbor occupies a small section of the canvas. The masterful Blessing of the Boats was accepted into the Paris Salon of 1889.
Robert Reid was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts into a family of New England clergymen. He attended the Philips Academy from 1880 to 1884, and later went on to study and serve as a teaching assistant at the Boston Museum School. He also received art instruction at the Art Students League in New York and in Paris at the Académie Julian. He was commissioned to paint murals in the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago as well as for the Library of Congress. In 1927 he suffered a stroke; undaunted, he learned to paint with his left hand. Reid died in a New York sanatorium at the age of sixty-seven.
