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Cemetery 24 Whorf John Perspective Corrected

(2017)

John Calderwood Whorf (1903-1959).

The Advocate called the watercolorist John Whorf the “jewel in the crown of many noted Provincetown artists.” Though born in Winthrop, he came to town at a young age to visit his grandparents Isaiah and Thankful Whorf. Beginning at age 17, he studied here under Charles Webster Hawthorne and George Elmer Browne. Handsome and worldly, Whorf became a consummate town insider, serving as skipper of the Beachcombers. He was also well-known off-Cape. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, for instance, acquired his Southern Ocean in 1939. Whorf died in 1959, at the age of 56. Vivienne Isabelle Wing  (1903-1972), his wife and widow, is buried here, as is their son John Whorf (1927-2010). Their daughters Carol Whorf Westcott (1926-2008) and Nancy Whorf Kelly (1930-2009) were accomplished painters themselves. Their granddaughter Amy Whorf McGuiggan is the author of the memoir, My Provincetown, and that most welcome new guide: Provincetown’s Historic Cemeteries and Memorials.

¶ Last updated on 18 November 2017.


Provincetown’s Historic Cemeteries and Memorials, A-73, Page 19.


Find a Grave Memorial No. 94788613.

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