Helen Hare Brooks (1900-1982) American, Harbor Scene Oil on Canvas.  Depicts boats anchored in a harbor with a coastal town in the background and birds wheeling above in the cloudy sky. Signed bottom left. Two labels stapled to the back of the frame, one from the North Shore Arts Association of Gloucester with the title ("At Rest"), artist, former price, and prior address, and the other a business card from the artist. 

Condition: Commensurate with age. 

Overall Size: 28 1/4 x 24 1/2 in. 

Sight Size: 23 x 19 1/2 in. 

Frame Thickness: 1 1/4 in. 

Helen Hare Brooks was born on May 1st, 1900 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her family was already established in the Rockport and Gloucester areas as skilled painters, and her brother John Cuthbert Hare went on to become a famous artist as well. She began practicing in watercolors and later oils at her father’s side, but her interests turned towards music once she entered primary school. She attended the New England Conservatory of Music and went on to become a concert pianist, accompanist, and organist throughout the South Shore towns, organizing and directing the Sharon Choral Society for many years. After marrying her husband William Brooks in 1929 she taught piano and played for the All Souls Unitarian-Universalist Church in Braintree for nearly thirty years. In 1958 she decided to explore art once again on her own, and soon became a member of the Copley Society of Boston and the North Shore Art Association of Gloucester. Her coastal landscapes were seen in many local galleries and museums, and she became a charter member and the first director of the Braintree Art Association. In the 1970s, for health reasons, she began to spend winters in Longboat Key, Florida, where she became a member of the Art Association there and taught lessons in nearby Sarasota. She died of a sudden heart attack on December 4th, 1982 at her home in Braintree.

Commensurate with age.