Arthur Burdett Frost (1851-1928)
Winter Golf - Play the Like in Four!, c. 1899
signed "A.B. Frost" lower right
gouache, 17 1/2 by 25 1/2 in.

This important self portrait of the artist golfing and his two sons as caddies appeared as a full-page spread in "Harper's Weekly" in 1899, between articles on hunting big and small game in the American West, competitive trap shooting, and brook trout fishing.

In the same year as this painting, Frost published a portfolio of images with Harper's titled "Sports and Games in the Open." Henry M. Reed writes, "To anyone who thinks of Frost solely as an artist of men with guns and dogs, this portfolio dispels that notion. All are outdoor images, but the portfolio mixes hunting scenes with numerous examples of fishing pictures, bicycling scenes, a few genre pictures, and illustrations of one of Frost's favorite pastimes--the game of golf."

Located just a couple of miles from the Frost family home in Convent Station, "Moneysunk," the Morris County Golf Club in Morristown, New Jersey, has a number of Frost's original golf paintings. Frost was a member of the club, which opened in 1894, and the artist posted a course-record scorecard in 1903. Interestingly, Morris County Golf Club was founded and operated by women, who made up the thirty-two regular members.

The title of this work includes the phrase "play the like," which originated from an early method of scoring match play. To "play the like" is to come even in strokes with an opponent.

Provenance: Private Collection, New York, acquired from Ernest Hickok, c. 1980

Literature: "Harper's Weekly," Vol. XLIII, No. 2208, April 15, 1899, p. 371, illustrated.
Gary Schwartz, "The Art of Golf, 1754-1940: Timeless, Enchanting Illustrations, and Narrative of Golf's Formative Years," 1990, p. 42, illustrated.
Peter Dobereiner, "The Glorious World of Golf," New York, 1973, p. 16, illustrated.
Henry M. Reed, "The A.B. Frost Book," Charleston, SC, 1993, p. 106.
"New Morris County Golf Score," New York Times, June 28, 1903.

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