John Whorf
American (1903-1959)
A native of Boston, John Whorf became known as one of the most accomplished 20th century American watercolorists, using the medium to capture the world around him with a luminous and painterly style that some compared to John Singer Sargent.
Whorf studied with his father, Harry Whorf, an artist and graphic designer, as well as at St. Botolph Studio and the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston. Whorf settled in Provincetown, Massachusetts at an early age, drawn to its seaside setting and to its growing arts colony. Whorf traveled to Europe in 1919, studying at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, and painting throughout France, Portugal and Morocco before returning to Provincetown.
In 1924, Whorf had his first one-man show at Boston’s Grace Horne Gallery. More than 50 paintings sold and he was heralded as Boston’s leading watercolorist. Whorf was a member of the American Watercolor Society, the National Academy of Design and the Provincetown Art Association. His works are held in the collections of the Art Institute o Chicago, the Brooklyn Museum, the Fogg Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum in New York, among others.