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Mary Bacon Jones — Bucket and Buoys
Mary Bacon Jones

Bucket and Buoys

This oil painting depicts a humble still life composition centered on a wooden bucket filled with dark, spherical buoys or floats. A length of red fabric drapes dramatically across the left side of the composition, creating a striking color contrast against the muted earth tones that dominate the work. The artist employs careful chiaroscuro to model the forms, casting the buoys and bucket into deep shadow while allowing warm light to catch the weathered wood. The subject matter reflects the maritime culture of coastal New England, particularly the working waterfront aesthetics that captivated mid-twentieth-century regional painters. This work exemplifies the figurative still life tradition with an emphasis on humble, utilitarian objects transformed through skilled painting technique.

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions

🔨 Auction Lot

Provincetown Art Association & Museum Benefit Auction

May 16, 2026

Estimate: $700$900

Lot 124

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About this work

Mary Bacon Jones, Bucket and Buoys

This oil painting depicts a humble still life composition centered on a wooden bucket filled with dark, spherical buoys or floats. A length of red fabric drapes dramatically across the left side of the composition, creating a striking color contrast against the muted earth tones that dominate the work. The artist employs careful chiaroscuro to model the forms, casting the buoys and bucket into deep shadow while allowing warm light to catch the weathered wood. The subject matter reflects the maritime culture of coastal New England, particularly the working waterfront aesthetics that captivated mid-twentieth-century regional painters. This work exemplifies the figurative still life tradition with an emphasis on humble, utilitarian objects transformed through skilled painting technique.

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
66 x 50.8 cm
Seen at
Eldred's, East Dennis, Massachusetts, United States

Related themes

Coastal Culture, Light And Shadow, Dark Palette, Cape Cod, Interior Scene, Nautical Theme, Maritime Subject, Drapery, Traditional Painting, Domestic Objects, Earthy Tones, Regionalism, Working Class, Chiaroscuro, Oil Painting, Realism, Provincetown School, Fishing Culture, Still Life, Wood Objects