As one of the larger works completed by Michigan artist Zoltan Sepeshy, Red Scow is exemplary for its composition and cross-hatched patterning, which underscore the artist’s methodical approach to working in the tempera medium. In Red Scow (which is a flat-bottomed boat with a blunt bow, often used to haul bulk freight), the hull of the boat dominates the foreground. A circus poster is mounted onto the boat and a worker, only his hands and feet visible, is reading the newspaper. The work was most likely painted in Frankfort, Michigan, where Sepeshy spent many summers. It is possible that the town’s Coast Guard Station, which still stands today, is depicted among the compilation of buildings on the opposite shore.