Breaking sharply around Buoy #8, two men and two others in the cockpit of a California Sloop dip the port bow as they work the sails to combat the rolling Pacific swell. The yacht’s lines match up smartly with Joe Duncan Gleason’s own sloop, DOROTHY, purchased in 1922 and named after his wife. Gleason was a member of the California Yacht Club out of the Greater Los Angeles Harbor, and a frequent sight on the seas, especially in the waters near Catalina Island.

Gleason’s art possess a distinct palette and style that becomes recognizable to a trained eye on sight. This fine painting presents a sloop in full motion, cutting round the large safe water buoy marker through the active Pacific Ocean, the rising swells rising above our line of vision. These buoys are typical along the California coast, marking channels and harbor entrances. The white texture gives body to the froth of the salt water and slicing movement to the yacht. The remarkable sky creates echos of the impressionist masters of France, and Gleason’s Plein Air presentation blending it all into a complete composition.

Gleason returned to California from New York in 1925 and established his Los Angeles studio and home, and a small address label of his is attached verso, along with the original artist label with title. His group of friends included artists and some of Hollywood’s elite, and he often painted their yachts and sailing adventures as well as his own.

Verso: Original Artist Label with Title, address label & exhibition stamp for “Painters & Sculptures Club of Los Angeles”, where Gleason was appointed President in 1930.

Provenance: Ettleson Family, Arizona; bequest to an Arizona Museum, Oct. 8, 1989; deacquistioned to Private Arizona Collection, 2008.