The Steam Trawlers, Boulogne

The Steam Trawlers, Boulogne demonstrates Schofield’s interest in urban and industrial subjects. Trawlers are work boats that dredge or drag nets in harbors; here, they symbolize the labor that makes modernity possible. During a 1908 solo visit to Boulogne, the artist wrote to his wife, Muriel, about this work and The Landing Stage at Boulogne (c. 1910, Cincinnati Art Museum): “I have two big [paintings] that I think are good and if I get nothing else here they will pay for the trip—possibly—it’s such lonely work here that I think another week will probably wind it up. Of course I won’t leave if I think I am getting good stuff out of it, dear, but it gets on my nerves to be absolutely alone the whole twenty-four hours.” 

A leading figure of American Impressionism, Schofield was born in Philadelphia. After briefly attending Swarthmore College, he worked as a cowboy in Texas, where ranch hands encouraged him to pursue art. He went on to attend the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia and the Académie Julian in Paris, where he studied French Impressionism. In 1902 he settled in St. Ives, Cornwall, painting its rugged coasts and harbors while returning to Pennsylvania in the winters. 

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