On the Quay

Curatorial Overview

“This energetic composition highlights Wilcox’s skill in conveying motion. In 1910, Wilcox traveled to Paris, where continued to create art in a realist manner rather than adopt abstraction. Here, he appears to be depicting a scene of minor difficulty. In the lower right, a man crouches next to a horse, its legs buckling under either the weight of the load or a misfitted harness. Another man grabs the attached cart, possibly to keep it from spilling over. Much like the viewer, the other figures in the scene watch the struggle unfold.”