Historic Canoe Poling Art: Harry Fenn

Here is an amazing piece of art from Illustrator Harry Fenn (1845 – 1911). It features some scenes of Moosehead Lake region in Maine.

 Original Ebay Seller Link 

The center piece is a fantastic image a Guide poling a bark canoe up the river while the Sport tries his luck fishing. Really like the detail on the canoe and the vivid portrayal of the rapids. The Guide is leaning on his pole hard (note the flex in the pole) and the artist has really captured the muscling power it takes to hold the canoe steady.

Closeup: Poling up the Moose River

Similar illustrations of the region can be found in Hubbard's 1883 publication Woods and lakes of Maine and Thomas Sedgwick Steele's 1882 publication, Canoe and camera .