Arts: At Marblehead

Blue water—the hulk of a smudgy oiler—the sails of little boats, like petals fallen on an azure field—the Summer sky. This is the setting that frames Marblehead, Mass., and this, in Marblehead's annual Art exhibition, is painting No. 1, by John P. Benson. Once port of call for East Indiamen, rich and important, with tea, silks and spices piled in its warehouses, the old town drowses now, lost in the hush of a dream. Wharves rot; rats squeak in deserted storerooms ; tiny pleasure-craft have replaced the tall schooners, rich Summer residents...