Savannah River
Date1985
Mediumwatercolor on paper
DimensionsImage (Sight): 21 1/4 × 38 5/8 inches (54 × 98.1 cm)
Framed: 33 1/4 × 48 1/4 × 1 7/8 inches (84.5 × 122.6 × 4.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Michael and Elizabeth Terry.
Object number2007.12
Copyright© West Fraser
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextA noted practitioner of traditional oil painting, Savannah-born West Fraser’s earlier work also included meticulous, large-scale watercolors. In this intensely realist view of the modern port at work, a large container ship is headed upriver to the port just beyond the city waterfront, guided by tugs. A number of factors facilitated this transformation in the scale of the Savannah’s port, including the creation of the Georgia Ports Authority in 1945 and the widening and deepening of the harbor over time to accommodate larger vessels. Container ships came into use on the river in the 1960s. The 1953 Talmadge bridge, still present in this view, was replaced by a higher suspension bridge in 1991.Subject MatterRiver Street, Savannah River, Savannah, Georgia, United States of America