Baits

David Bates, Baits, 1990, oil on canvas, 84 x 64 in. (213.4 x 162.6 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1995.95

Artwork Details

Title: Baits
Artist: David Bates
Date: 1990
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 84 x 64 in. (213.4 x 162.6 cm.)
Credit Line: Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program
Mediums: oil
Mediums Description: oil on canvas
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Figure male — waist length
African American
Waterscape — sea
Occupation — vendor — bait seller
Architecture Interior — detail — window
Object — foodstuff — beverage
Object Number: 1995.95
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1995.95

Artwork Description

David Bates loved this bait shop, which stood for many years on Galveston Bay. He called it "a place where the real folks were," and captured the lively traffic on the docks, the noise of seagulls, and a humble, makeshift business. Bates has painted all along the Gulf Coast, from Mexico to northern Florida. The fish shacks and beer joints are stand-ins for the studio that he always wanted, where he could smell the sea and feel the humid air while he painted. Bates believes that the strong brushwork and color contrasts come from his heightened memories, bringing back the experience of the bait shop "even stronger than if you're there." His paintings evoke Marsden Hartley's forceful portraits of fishermen from earlier in the century. Bates marvels that when he paints, "dead guys" like Hartley "start showing up" in ways that he doesn’t expect.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006