Charles Hawthorne, Provincetown

"The Girl in White" by Charles Hawthorne

"Probably Charles Hawthorne, more than any other one person, was responsible for the growth of Provincetown as an art center because of the success and popularity of the school. Originally attracted to its classes, many of the students have kept their close connection with the town even after becoming established painters in their own right.

In his "Notes" are many references to the part played by hard work in the development of a painter. No one ever practiced better what he preached, for he was always at work in his studio by eight o'clock, and the volume of work he produced was impressive. With all this he was a warm and enthusiastic companion because of his ability to enjoy life. He loved people, and convivial occasions were numerous in the household.

There were an amazing number of scholarships at the Cape Cod School of Art. Certainly the talent that assembled there each summer - sometimes only through extraordinary hardships - deserved them. Besides providing this large number of scholarships at his own school, he was instrumental in helping talented students in other schools, and also did such things as get up a purse to start off a gifted young African-American painter in Europe, since he would have no opportunity on this side of the Atlantic. To me, as his son, it is most heart-warming to discover, when I meet his former students, with what esteem and affection they still hold him."

To be continued

(Excerpted from "Hawthorne on Painting" by Charles Webster Hawthorne.)