Ada Gilmore, Figures and Dog, 1916, color white-line woodblock print, 9.5” x 10”. From the Collection of Napi and Helen Van Dereck courtesy of Provincetown Art Association and Museum.
The last time I saw Anton “Napi” Van Dereck, a passionate collector of paintings and white line woodblock prints from the arts colony of Provincetown, we were debating the validity of abstract art. He said, “I understand it, of course, but I don’t like it. I like art that tells a story.”
Napi’s death this past year on Christmas Day, at 89 years of age, marks the end of an era and is sad. It is poignant and fitting that CEO and Curator of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum’s Chris McCarthy created the exhibit “Directors’ Choice: In Memoriam: Napi Van Dereck” to mark his passing.