Vintage American School Roy Martell Mason Waterfowl Watercolor Signed, SLR, Hand Carved Frame, 9 3/4 x 13 3/4", 18 1/2 x 22" Framed.
Roy Martell Mason(1886-1972) (Batavia, NY / La Jolla, Ca.)Artist visitor to Morro Bay 1959.“Recent distinguished visitors in Morro Bay were Mr. and Mrs. Roy Martell Mason from Batavia, N. Y. Mason, a landscape painter and a member of the National Academy, was impressed by the scenic potentialities of the community, and canvassed the town in an effort to locate a totally new vantage point from which to paint the distinctive local landmark, Morro Rock.Born in Gilbert Mills, N. Y., March 15, 1886, Mason was educated there in the public schools. Meanwhile he had undertaken the study of art under his father’s instruction. Since 1929 he has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Gold Medal of Honor for watercolor of the Allied Artists of America show of 1952-53. He is presently represented in the Metropolitan Museum of New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and 15 other museums throughout the country, and more than 100 private collections. In partnership with his brother, he served as art director for 35 years with F. E. Mason and Sons, engravers, in Batavia. In 1930 he became an Associate of the National Academy, and in 1940 was elected to full membership as National Academician. He is a life member and 1953 vice president of the American Water Color Society, Philadelphia Water Color Society, Rochester Art Club and other organizations and an art contributor to the covers of Readers Digest, Colliers, and other periodicals.Questioned as to his position with regard to conservative versus advanced theories of art, Mason stated his sympathy is entirely with conservative art that he does not pretend to understand the surrealists, the post-Impressionists, and least of all the abstract expressionists. ‘The dot-dash and the paint-pourers’ to him are ‘suspect in their motivation and questionable in their achievement.’Mr. and Mrs. Mason were returning from a weekend trip in Carmel where they were guests of the internationally celebrated naturalist, Roy Chapman Andrews and his wife. Stopping in Morro Bay en route to their new home in La Jolla, which they purchased in the last two months as their permanent residence, Mason found material in great abundance in this central coast area. He said Morro Bay was literally a ‘pictorial gold mine,’ that he could work here and in the vicinity for months.The artist has held a membership with the Audubon Artists, and both he and Mrs. Mason are former members of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology at Ithaca. Mrs. Mason devoted time during their visit here to observation of shore birds and other water fowl in the bay. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mason expressed genuine interest and liking for Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo County. They said they hoped the area will continue to remain relatively unspoiled for both residents and artists. They look forward to future visits that will be pleasant and artistically productive.” per Nadine Richards, “Visit to Morro Bay Impresses Landscape Painter,” and port. at easel, Sun, Dec. 11, 1959, sec. 2, p. 3.Source: Nancy Dustin Wall Moure, MORRO BAY (including LOS OSOS, BAYWOOD PARK and CAYUCOS) ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY BEFORE 1960 (Publications in [Southern] California Art, vol. 13, no. I), Los Angeles: Dustin Publications, 2016.

18 x 22 x 2 in

10 lb