A collection of never-before-seen photos of a bygone era.
Almost forty years ago, Neil Harpe set out to photograph the skipjacks that still harvested oysters under sail on the Chesapeake Bay, and in the process, created art inspired by the workboats and watermen he encountered. In doing so, Neil captured the last days of these iconic boats, and a vanishing way of life. From a renowned Annapolis artist, this is a book that is sure to be a classic, containing over 120 original photos and 25 of the beautiful lithographs they inspired.
To be published in October 2024. Paperback, 9 in. x 8 in., approximately 150 pages.
Your contribution will help us to publish this unique book in a high-quality, full color format to showcase the beauty of these classic workboats and other Chesapeake scenes in photographs and lithographs.
See more about Neil at the "About the Author" tab above, and at the Fox Road Productions book page.
Perks
Receive a signed and numbered limited-edition print (25" x 17.5") by Neil Harpe, Off Season - Deal Island (1992), as well as one hard copy of the book. Your name will be listed among Supporters at book events.
Off Season - Deal Island received an Award of Excellence in the 13th Annual Mystic International Exhibition, judged by Walter Cronkite and Ray Ellis, who said at the time, "The artist has a good knowledge of his subject and paid great attention to detail -- this is a very evocative piece. I've been there, and it brings back one hundred memories. Each time I look at it, another memory pops up."
This series of prints was produced, at all stages, under direct supervision of the artist, and all materials, transparencies, films, plates and excess copies have been destroyed. Prints generously donated by the artist.
As one of our most generous donors, your name will be listed on a special page in the book itself, as well as listed among Supporters at book events. You will also receive a signed and numbered limited-edition print by Neil Harpe, Off Season - Deal Island, and two hard copies of the book.
Your company's name will be listed on the book's website in our Supporters section.
Your company's logo will appear on the book's website in our Supporters section, and will be featured in print at book events.
Your company, as one of our most generous donors, will be listed on a special page in the book itself. Your company's name and logo will also appear on the book's website in our Supporters section, and will be featured in print at book events.
Our most generous donors of amounts $1000 and over will be verbally recognized at book events, and will be prominently listed on a special page in the book itself. Company name and logo will also appear on the book's website in our Supporters section, and will be featured in print at book events.
Highlights
See all activity37About the Author
Neil Harpe was born in Annapolis, Maryland, where he grew up along the creeks and backwater marshes of the Chesapeake Bay, the region where his family has lived for generations. Swimming, crabbing, fishing, and watching watermen at their daily activities were a part of his childhood and fostered an early love of nature and the sea.
The Annapolis of Neil’s youth was a working port town, the harbor filled with skipjacks and fishing boats. Watermen came daily to unload their catches at the City Dock. It was a way of life that he took for granted would always exist. After growing up and moving farther from the water, Neil visited Annapolis periodically only to find the rapid changes that had taken place throughout the Bay area. Sleek yachts began to take over the creeks where workboats once proliferated and tourists, not watermen, filled the docks. Influenced by his memories of a way of life now vanishing, Neil has been drawn to portray the poetic beauty of the maritime world: graceful skipjacks; aging fishing boats; the Bay’s unique lighthouses; fishing ports like Tilghman, Deal Island, Crisfield and Annapolis; and the flat, grassy marshlands along the shore.
During the 1980s, Neil made numerous trips out on the Chesapeake aboard skipjacks and workboats, observing firsthand the labors of watermen and recording the experience with many photographs. These photographs have served as models for ensuing paintings, drawings, and prints. Neil approaches his art through a variety of mediums including watercolor, acrylics, graphite, lithography, and etching. He often combines several different approaches in a single work. For example, his meticulously drawn lithographs colored with delicate watercolor washes are a 19th century technique seldom seen today -- yet he manages to convey a modern freshness which befits his vision of the maritime world as a combination of the past and the present.
After completing the four-year studio art program majoring in graphics (printmaking) at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC and earning his BFA in multi-media at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Neil went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree in stone and plate lithography at George Washington University. Neil’s Chesapeake Bay lithographs were included in the Art in Embassies Program of the U.S. State Department and were displayed at U.S. Embassies throughout the globe. His mixed-media watercolor Off Season - Deal Island received an Award of Excellence at the 13th Annual Mystic International Exhibition. He is an artist member of the American Society of Marine Artists; his work is in numerous galleries and corporate and private collections, including the Beverley R. Robinson Collection of the U.S. Naval Academy Museum, the Calvert Marine Museum, and Westinghouse.
See more about Neil at neilharpe.com
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Activity
Receive a signed and numbered limited-edition print (25" x 17.5") by Neil Harpe, Off Season - Deal Island (1992), as well as one hard copy of the book. Your name will be listed among Supporters at book events.
Off Season - Deal Island received an Award of Excellence in the 13th Annual Mystic International Exhibition, judged by Walter Cronkite and Ray Ellis, who said at the time, "The artist has a good knowledge of his subject and paid great attention to detail -- this is a very evocative piece. I've been there, and it brings back one hundred memories. Each time I look at it, another memory pops up."
This series of prints was produced, at all stages, under direct supervision of the artist, and all materials, transparencies, films, plates and excess copies have been destroyed. Prints generously donated by the artist.
As one of our most generous donors, your name will be listed on a special page in the book itself, as well as listed among Supporters at book events. You will also receive a signed and numbered limited-edition print by Neil Harpe, Off Season - Deal Island, and two hard copies of the book.
Your company's name will be listed on the book's website in our Supporters section.
Your company's logo will appear on the book's website in our Supporters section, and will be featured in print at book events.
Your company, as one of our most generous donors, will be listed on a special page in the book itself. Your company's name and logo will also appear on the book's website in our Supporters section, and will be featured in print at book events.
Our most generous donors of amounts $1000 and over will be verbally recognized at book events, and will be prominently listed on a special page in the book itself. Company name and logo will also appear on the book's website in our Supporters section, and will be featured in print at book events.
