Provincetown Fishermen 

Karl Knaths created "Provincetown Fishermen" using graphite and crayon on paper. Knaths, a German-American artist, spent many years in Provincetown, a place known for its artistic community, but also for its working class fishermen. The drawing, divided into quadrants, seems to capture the daily lives of these men. Their labor and camaraderie is palpable, rendered in Knaths’s expressive, angular style. One can feel the weight of their catch and the rough texture of the nets, as well as sense the salty air and the ever-present horizon line. What is most striking is the list of coded numbers and letters, a notation of some kind, inscribed at the top of the drawing. It is hard to decipher what the artist noted on the fishermen, or if it relates to the fishermen at all. In a broader sense, this artwork reflects the intersection of labor, community, and place that defined Provincetown, capturing a slice of American life in the early to mid-20th century.