The Massachusetts artist Ralph Cahoon (1910-1982), an American of Dutch descent, began as a furniture decorator but fairly soon found his subject: folk motifs featuring mermaids

The Massachusetts artist Ralph Cahoon (1910-1982), an American of Dutch descent, began as a furniture decorator but fairly soon found his subject: folk motifs featuring mermaids. With the help of one of his clients, the celebrated philanthropist and patron of the arts Joan Whitney, Cahoon introduced his work to New York society, and his pictures became a fashionable adornment of the interiors of well-to-do families. Until the end of his days Cahoon went on inventing sperm whales with dancers on their backs, and mermaids playing bridge or lounging on a sofa with a kitten, and he produced enough of them to fill a three-storey museum bearing his name in his home state.