Description

Description: We offer an original watercolor by the American artist Jade Fon. The piece is matted with a 14 1/4″ x 20 1/4″ opening in a 24″ x 30″ frame. The artist presents an iconic landmark with a wonderful visual rhythm: the anonymous fishermen perch on rocks with their fishing lines taut, behind them industrial spools and telephone poles head towards the Lime Point Lighthouse with the span of the bridge and its cables grandly reaching the other shore. The fishing line is rendered by scratching into the surface of the paper. This subtractive process has the opposite effect; the lines look like they are hovering off the paper, glinting in the sun.

Based on Fon’s biographical information and the history of the Golden Gate Bridge and neighboring structures, this piece was likely painted during the early 1970’s. Fon painted from life and the dwellings depicted were torn down when the lighthouse was fully automated. The Sutro Tower at the left was built by 1973. Jade Fon (1911-1983) was born in San Jose, California but was raised in Winslow, Arizona. During the 1930’s, he moved to Los Angeles where he continued his education at the Art Students League and exhibited his paintings as a member of the California Water Color Society. After the mid-1940’s, he lived in the San Francisco area. Between 1940 and 1955, he also worked as a night club entertainer and occasionally produced commercial illustrations. In the 1970’s he was an art instructor and founder of a highly successful watercolor workshop in Asilomar.

Condition: Not examined out of frame, but appears to be in fine condition.