Iceboating on the South Shrewsbury River

Artist Victor Gilsey

Periodca. 1900 - 1910

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions10 × 16 in. (25.4 × 40.6 cm)

SignedSigned lower left, "V. Gilsey."

ClassificationsLandscapes & Still Life

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, 1980

Object number1980.3.10

DescriptionA folk art depiction of an iceboat race running from left to right that involves three boats. The one in the lead, with two people in it, is lateen rigged. The other two boats, with one person each on board, are jib and mainsail rigged. The sails of the boats are reflected on the surface of the ice. Trees on the distant shore are covered with snow, and the race is taking place under a partly cloudy sky.
Curatorial RemarksThe Navesink and South Shrewsbury Rivers in Monmouth County have been one of the major centers of iceboating in America since the mid-nineteenth century. While hundreds of photographs of the winter sport were taken, very few paintings exist. Victor Gilsey's depiction of the sport he enjoyed captures a cold morning race on the frozen tidal river.NotesArtist Victor Gilsey (1872 - 1947) was a resident of North Long Branch in the early twentieth century. Born in New York, he was a grandson of real estate and luxury hotel owner Peter Gilsey (1811 - 1873). While living in Monmouth County, Victor was an avid iceboating enthusiast and owned two boats. He sailed one of his craft named Arrow along the South Shrewsbury River, where the Gilsey family owned property off Atlantic Avenue which abutted the river. The artist also joined the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club in Red Bank. According to a 1980 interview with the artist's son, the lead boat in the painting with lateen rigging was his father's boat Arrow, and the scene was on the South Shrewsbury.

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