Arts Column: Impressionist found his way to the 21 Club

Reynolds Beal was an American Impressionist who came of age during the early 20th century. He had the luxury of being from a wealthy New York family, so that after graduating from Cornell University with a degree in Marine architecture, he was able to pursue his real interests —sailing and painting. He had studied at William Merritt Chase’s Shinnecock School on Long Island and informally with Henry Ward Ranger. Thus, he was remembered as “a natty dresser and great conversationalist who never lost his heavy New York accent and divided his interest in art and oils with boats, watercolours, nature and whatever was going on.” 

So his life’s journey involved travelling to far-flung parts of the world via sailing yachts and Bermuda did figure in his body of work. His trip to the island in February and March of 1940 produced a detailed sketchbook of mundane recordings of life on the island such as the road to Spanish Point, Front Street, Darrell’s Wharf and Bermuda’s favourite watering hole at the time, the Twenty One Club. This is now the Pickled Onion on Front Street and Beal did many sketches of the bar as well as large oil which he executed in his typical impressionist style. We get the sense that this was done in the afternoon and a certain sense of lethargy permeates the work. Obviously, World War II and the end of the depression impacted on the tourist industry and the bars and restaurants suffered from a lack of clientele. But Beal was the inveterate doodler and would often grab a napkin or the back of menus to record everyday scenes of the island. This is an unusual painting in that interiors are not typical Bermudian subject!

Elise Outerbridge is curator at Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art. bermudamasterworks.com