Motif Number 1

What is your ideal vacation? How about watching the sunrise from the deck while sipping coffee from this picture perfect location in Rockport. What more can you ask for?

Motif No. 1, the famous icon of Rockport, Massachusetts, is ready to welcome visitors, both artists and non-artists, after a long winter season ends. If you are an artist or art-lover, you are likely to know why this small red shack is called ‘Motif Number1’. It has a quite interesting history. Back when this red house was built 1884, , it was used to stock fishermen’s supplies and daily catches. When the U.S. Naval Fleet docked in Rockport, locals used the shack as a place for meeting and watching ship launches. By 1939s, this building became an artist’s studio. As Rockport gained a status of being an ‘artists’ haven’, many painters have flocked to this town. One painter, Lester Hornby, loved the area and spent a significant amount of time teaching painting classes during the summers. The name ‘Notif Number1’ is likely to have originated from him. When he sent his students out to paint whatever scenes caught their attention, they seem to have favored this little red shark over anything else. Seeing that so many students continued to paint portraits of this little red building, he began referring to it as ‘Motif Number1’. The ‘motif’ - a French term for a theme within a work of art that often repeats itself.

In 1945, the town of Rockport purchased the Motif as a monument to Rockporters who had served in the Armed Services. Unfortunately, the red shack was destroyed by the blizzard of 1978, but the town of Rockport recognized its significance and built a near-exact replica shortly there after. The love of ‘Motif Number1’ did not fade even with the replica building and has gained the status of being the most painted item in the world.

As an artist, I was excited to paint this iconic building with a beautiful sunrise.