Surf at Ogunquit

Surf at Ogunquit illustrates the sights and sounds of crashing waves off the southern coast of Maine, near Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Tellander’s lively depiction resonates with nautical precision of feeling and atmosphere. The sound of water bursting and receding on the rocks is palpable, and so is the sea foam mist emanating from it. This area had been popular with artists as far back as 1898, when painter Charles Woodbury established a local art school. Many artists flocked to the region and painted typical picturesque and tranquil seascapes. However, Tellander's paintings confront nature’s forces, invoking awe at the grandeur of the coastal environment. Broad, sweeping brushstrokes shape the cascades of surf and rocky shore. Both Tellander’s peers and the public lauded Surf at Ogunquit at the Art Institute of Chicago’s Annual Art and Vicinity 1927 exhibition, voting it the most popular work. It won further awards, such as the Municipal Art League’s annual purchase prize and the gold medal of the Association of Chicago Painters and Sculptors.

Frederic Tellander was born in the small town of Paxton, Illinois, and attended Northern Indiana Normal School, which later became Valparaiso University. He broadened his artistic education by studying in Europe. Aside from landscape painting, he also worked in advertising, receiving commissions from the Studebaker company. He had an unstoppable work ethic, painting until he died at the age of ninety-eight!