Antique American Oil on Board Marine Painting | D.A. Fisher Signed and Dated 1892

A New England lighthouse seascape, signed and dated 1892 by D. A. Fisher (American, 1867–1940) — a documented Portland, Maine marine and landscape painter, member of the Brushians, and listed in Peter Hastings Falk's Who Was Who in American Art.

The composition is Fisher at his most characteristic: a working stretch of the New England coast, the surf breaking white over weed-darkened rocks in the foreground, sailing vessels small against the horizon, and on a distant headland a substantial white-painted lighthouse complex with its keeper's quarters arranged behind. The light catches the surf, the green-grey sea moves with weight and conviction, and the sky carries the soft scudded clouds of a fair Atlantic morning. This is the Maine coast in 1892 — when Fisher was twenty-five years old and at the start of the working life that would make him a fixture of the Portland artist community for the next half-century.

The signature reads clearly in the lower right: D.A. Fisher 1892. The verso carries an original period label from Wadsworth, Howland & Co. of Boston — Academy Boards with their Tube Oil Colors & Prepared Canvas mark, 82 & 84 Washington Street — the Boston artist supply company that prepared the board the painting is on. The label is contemporaneous with the work and documents the full Boston supply chain Fisher used.

The frame is original to the period — substantial gilt-gesso with deep carved acanthus and beaded ornament. There is honest wear at the corners and along the edges; the gilt has darkened to the warm tone that period frames acquire only with time. It is the kind of frame that signals serious commission rather than parlor decoration.

D. A. Fisher's auction record runs $50 to $2,666, with his strongest results coming from signed and dated marine subjects of exactly this period and subject matter. Conway Meadows, White Mountain School set his record at James D. Julia in 2016. New England lighthouse seascapes are his most desirable category, and an early dated example like this — signed, dated, period frame, period verso label — sits squarely in the upper portion of that band.

A piece for a Maine collector, a New England decorator, a sailing or lighthouse devotee, or any serious collector of late 19th century American marine painting.

CONDITION: Painting sound. Signature and date legible. Verso supply label intact and legible. Frame original to the period with honest wear: edge losses and small flakes to gilt-gesso ornament at the corners (consistent with age, do not affect display). Wire and back hardware in serviceable condition.

DETAILS:

• Artist: D. A. Fisher (American, 1867–1940)
• Subject: New England coastal scene with lighthouse, sailing vessels, breaking surf
• Medium: Oil on academy board
• Signature: Signed and dated lower right "D.A. Fisher 1892"
• Verso label: Wadsworth, Howland & Co., Boston — Academy Boards / Tube Oil Colors & Prepared Canvas, 82 & 84 Washington St.
• Sight: 11⅝ × 8⅞ in.
• Framed: 18 × 16 × 3 in.
• Frame: Period gilt-gesso with carved acanthus and beaded ornament