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House Call

¹ Department of Radiology, Mount Auburn Hospital, 330 Mount Auburn St., Cambridge, MA 02238.

Address correspondence to S. C. Schatzki.

Martin Ahearn was born in Somerville, MA, on March 1, 1918. After graduating from high school, he attended the Vesper George School of Art in Boston, MA. Ahearn made his living for many years as an advertising artist, becoming the art director of the Corey, Snow advertising company in Boston while still in his 20s and also working at General Electric, where he briefly acted as a medical illustrator. During this time, Ahearn devoted much of his free time to painting and also formally studied with the well-known Cape Ann artists, Emille Gruppe and Carl Peters. Ahearn had already vacationed at Rockport, MA, for many years when, in 1960, he moved permanently to this famous artists' colony. In 1973, at the age of 55, he retired from advertising and began a new career as a full-time artist.

View larger version (107K): [in this window] [in a new window] [as a PowerPoint slide]   Martin Ahearn (1918-). House Call, ca. 1982. Watercolor on paper, 29 x 21 inches (76 x 53 cm). Private collection. (Courtesy of An Artful Touch, Rockport, MA)

An old Victorian house on Pleasant Street in Rockport, MA, was the initial subject of House Call. Ahearn explains that:

I set up my easel and proceeded to sketch, with the emphasis on the doorway. I isolated the house to heighten the surreal effect. Frankly, the idea to have a doctor entering the home occurred when the painting was in the later stages of development.

Thomas Kelly, M.D., who is depicted in the painting, was a "long time" friend of Ahearn's and a family practitioner from Somerville, MA, who had a vacation home in Rockport. Dr. Kelly was a team physician for the Boston professional hockey (Bruins) and basketball (Celtics) teams for many years and "did make house calls." House Call won a medal at a national exhibition of the Academic Art Association.

Ahearn is a life member and past president of the renown Rockport Art Association. He is a member of many other societies including the American Watercolor Society, the Academic Art Association, and the Society of Martime Painters. He has conducted workshops in Ireland, Alaska, and especially on Cape Ann, and has written numerous articles for art periodicals. Ahearn's paintings are included in the collections of many important industrial organizations including the Ford Motor Company, Prudential Insurance, and AT&T, in addition to the permanent collection of the De Cordova Museum in Lincoln, MA. At the age of 81, Martin Ahearn, who works primarily in watercolor, has recently begun a series of paintings about Irish poets and writers.

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This Article Figures Only Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Schatzki, S. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Schatzki, S. C. Social Bookmarking                      What's this? Hotlight (NEW!) What's Hotlight?