Class of Summer 1933
William Frederick Ritschel
b. Nuremburg, Germany, 1864
d. Carmel, California, 1949
Making Port, 1917
Oil on canvas
30 x 40 inches
William Ritschel’s love of the sea started in his youth. In 1911, he moved to Carmel, where he built a great stone house high on the Carmel Highlands bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The artist had a remarkable ability to convey the many moods of the sea, including dramatic ocean storms. In Making Port, two boats are tossed about on the sea, with the shore just visible beyond. Two sailors, wearing protective gear, sit in the stern of one of the boats, working the rudder. The action and intensity in the painting are expressed by the cacophony of small dabs of paint, as well as the layers of short, curved brushstrokes and splashes of white representing the unruly, blue-green waves.
GIFTED: Collecting the Art of California at Gardena High School, 1919-1956 is organized by the GHS Art Collection, Inc, in association with the Gardena High School Student Body and curated by Susan M. Anderson.
