Chaim Gross — Plein-Air Painters, Provincetown 1948

Chaim Gross, Plein-Air Painters, Provincetown, 1948
Sheet: 22 ¼ × 14 in.
Medium: Watercolor and ink on paper

This vibrant watercolor captures a lively outdoor figure-painting session on the beaches of Provincetown, Massachusetts, where Chaim Gross spent many summers teaching and working among a thriving community of artists. The composition is filled with movement—students gathered around easels, sketching and observing the model, set against a backdrop of bright sand, water, and weathered coastal buildings.

Gross’s energetic linework and expressive washes of color convey the immediacy of plein-air study and the dynamic artistic culture of mid-century Provincetown. The scene reflects his deep engagement with the human figure, as well as his longstanding role as a teacher and mentor within American art circles.

This work is part of the Velvet Foundation for the Arts’ Gross Collection, preserved for research, exhibition, and future scholarship.