A Few Notes On The Paintings
Squam Lake, the theme of these paintings, is located in the foothills of New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Dwarfed in size only by the better known Lake Winnipesaukee, Squam remains without any commercial development, which was a key reason it was selected as the site for the 1981 movie, “On Golden Pond”.
My family has been spending summers on Squam Lake ever since 1881 when my great uncle Earnest Balch established what is believed to be the first boy’s summer camp in America on an island there.
Earnest’s sister, my great aunt Kate, wanted to be an architect but was locked out of the profession because of her gender. So instead she designed several eccentric, one-of-a-kind “fishing camps” on the shores of the lake.
A few of these summer-only houses remain today, including the one depicted in the painting “Graycliffe (1904), which features an octagonal living room supporting an octagonal bedroom with three sleeping alcoves. The painting “Five Chairs” shows the view from the Graycliffe porch. “A Break in the Weather” is looking eastward after a storm from the Graycliffe dock. The other paintings speak for themselves. — Edith Eddy