A Fishing Party Off Long Island

Shark fishing off of Long Island, New York, was and still is a popular sport. Here, seven men in two boats try to haul in a shark they have caught. The red-shirted man in the stern holds a loop of rope at the ready in his right hand. Vermont-born Junius Brutus Stearns gained status early in his professional career by painting a series of historical works about George Washington. In the following decades, he turned to genre painting, creating scenes of everyday life that included domestic settings, family portraits, and fishing expeditions like this one. Stearns was a member of Oceanus, a New York fishing club, and this may be a portrait of several of his friends from the group. Conservation of this frame was made possible by a generous contribution from Al and Dena Naylor through the Art Champions program.