Long Boat Ireland by James Edward Scherbarth

A red hull with a white gap for a cabin, floating on a slab of plum.

Long Boat Ireland is a work on paper by James Edward Scherbarth (1949-2021), dated 2019, and signed, titled and dated 2019 en verso. Scherbarth often worked with a few flat shapes in strong color, leaving much of the sheet empty so the forms could carry the title on their own. A coral-red band with a long, curved cutout sits above a darker purple rectangle, the two meeting on a level line like a waterline. Thin black marks trace across the purple. The upper half of the sheet is left bare. It is 7.25 inches wide and 11 high.

A boat reduced to two colors and still seaworthy.