Painters need a place to inspire them - Monhegan Island

 Monhegan Island  

As the ferry pulls up to the dock of Monhegan Island, I couldn't help but think of all the painters that found their way to this small island off the coast of Maine.  Once they arrived, they immersed themselves in the wonderful rocky, coastal scenery and wild ocean views.  Art requires inspiration and this island clearly was and continues to be a wonderful muse.  The art painted on the island is documented in the Monhegan Museum of Historical & Cultural Museum at the peak of the island in the old lighthouse structures.

Monhegan Island Lighthouse

The museum explores every aspect of the history of this tiny island in a most impressive manner with photographs, artifacts and the art of those who painted there. While the Monhegan Island is small, as is their cultural center, the artists who came to the island and captured the life and the landscape of this special place are some of America's best known artists.  If you can't get to the island, the best way to discover the works painted Plein Air around this remote place is to enjoy the slide show put together by the museum. 

The following are some of my favorite paintings which I believe capture the essence of the island.

Mary Townsend Mason, Sunny Day, Monhegan Beach

Rockwell Kent, Winter Monhegan Island

Rockwell Kent, Afternoon on the Sea

Edward Hopper, Blackhead, Monhegan

Edward Hopper, Monhegan Houses

George Bellow, The Big Dory

There are several books that deal with the art Monhegan Island

Amazon Link

Sally Babylon's book is an absolute necessity for anyone visiting the Island.  It provides the history of the Monhegan art colony as well as a walking guide to the sites where the artist painted. 

Currently, the Museum is presenting an art exhibition in the new gallery building showcasing  Monhegan’s artistic history.  Information on acquiring the catalog should be available from the Center's shop.

Ogunquit Museum of American Art - Henry Strater's Museum

Henry Strater

The Ogunquit Museum of American Art is housed in modest building set on a beautifully landscaped property which contains lovely gardens and some wonderful sculptures.  Henry Strater studied at Hamilton Easter Field's Summer School in Ogunquit before becoming a member of the Lost Generation in Paris. He moved back to Ogunquit in 1925.  Ultimately he purchased a piece of ocean front property and engaged Charles S. Worley, Jr. to design a museum that was opened in 1953.   The museum is devoted to American art and artists - many of who are associated with Ogunquit's famous art colony of the early 20th century.

Ogunquit Musem of American Art

Arriving at the museum, we decided to take the measure of the place by walking past the sculptures to arrive at a rock outcrop where we enjoyed a picnic lunch before venturing into the museum.

Andrew Wyeth:  The Linda L. Bean Collection

Linda L. Bean of the famous Maine family shared her collection of Andrew Wyeth works with visitors of the Oqunquit Museum.  The works of Andrew Wyeth are familiar to anyone interested in art and yet to see a sample of his work "up close and personal" was really exciting.  A few of "Helga" sketches were on display and one cannot help but marvel at the details found in these drawings.  Each of the 30 pictures on display provides a reason why Wyeth is one of America's most popular artists.  His technique and themes engage and inspire the viewer.

Andrew Wyeth, Carol on the Beach

Andrew Wyeth, Wishbone

Alexandra de Steiguer:  Small Island, Big Picture

Our stop at the Ogunquit Museum was a break as we traveled to Monhegan Island to enjoy the sun and sea in late August.    Alexandra de Steiguer waits until early November before she takes up residence on Star Island at the Isles of Shoals.  During the five months of winter, she lives alone on the island taking photographs and keeping voluminous journals.  It hard to imagine such a life style, but the images and words it creates are extraordinary.  The title of the show is also the title of her book of her photographs and about her experience on the island.

 

Looking at the slides and reading the words of Ms. de Steiguer in the article The Place where you Live, Star Island, the Isles of Shoal in Orion Magazine, December 17, 2012 is a fine introduction to her art and philosophy.

Tradition and Excellence: the OMAA Permanent Collection 

Wandering through the main gallery where the treasures of the OMAA are on display reminds the visitor that this collection curates important American paintings, sculpture, drawings and photographs from the late 1800s to the present   Some of my favorite from this fine collection includes works by Marsden Hartley, Rockwell Kent and Will Barnet.

Marsden Hartley, Mt. Katahdin, winter

Marsden Hartley, Lobster Pots and Buoys

Will Barnet, Emily Dickinson Poem #1011

The Ogunquit Museum is a small museum with a very interesting permanent collection in an iconic Maine location. Taking leave of this place was difficult.

Florence Griswold Museum - Art of the Everyman

As the logo claims, the Florence Griswold is famous for its extraordinary collection of American Impressionism.  This fine museum often collaborates with other small regional museum to move beyond Impressionism to bring a range of exhibition to visitors.  This summer the museum presented Art of the Everyman: Folk Art from the Fenimore Art Museum.  Earlier this summer I took advantage of a tour to Cogwell's Grant and Beauport sponsored by the Griswold.  Having enjoyed that tour into the world of American folk art, it seemed appropriate to visit the display of folk art on loan from the Fenimore Art Museum.

Van Bergen overmantel, 1728-1738

The exhibition contained a variety of folk art which made for a very pleasant experience.  The overmantel shown above clearly was one of the key pieces.  In my mind Portrait of Laura Hall, 1808 painted by James Brown was an extraordinary moving portrait and the star of the show. The portrait of Mother and Child attributed to Ammi Phillipps, 1825 was also an important piece.

The exhibition also featured a few artifacts like the knife box shown below:

There were a number of "historical works" which would be wonderful primary documents to be explored by students of early American history.  While fascinating for students, I can't imagine wanting one to hang in my living room.

 

William Sidney Mount, Ringing the Pig (1842)

While a modest exhibit, it was well hung and described; consequently, it made for a pleasant morning followed by a delightful picnic overlooking the Lieutenant River with Peggy Wilson a former Choate Rosemary Hall faculty member.

Mass MoCA - Art leading the Way to the Future

 

North Adams has been a symbol of what happened to midsized American cities as manufacturing declined.  At the center of this city are a series of handsome brick buildings which fell into disrepair as the factories closed.  With the loss of the manufacturing, other business failed and once handsome housing stock was abandoned.   This dilemma of ongoing decline faced many American cities, but North Adams with the development of the Mass MoCA campus is leading the revitalization to an important area of the city.  MoCA says North Adams has always manufactured things, now it is creating art!

The manufacturing center in North Adams covered almost 13 acres or a third of the city's downtown area.  The last traditional occupant, Sprague Electric closed in 1985.  A year later a collaboration between North Adams and Williams College presented an extraordinary vision for a new economic and cultural driver.  The results of this collaboration resulted in the 1999 opening of Mass MoCA which has grown to be a premier center for the creation of art in a wide variety of forms.  From the parking lot, one walks past several buildings housing a variety of galleries, commercial venues and open spaces to arrive at a very handsome Visitor Center which hints at the space available in this center.

Sol LeWitt

Beyond visiting the campus of MoCA, the aim was to see the Sol LeWitt:  A Wall Drawing Retrospective.  Everyone in Connecticut is well aware of the work of Sol LeWitt as he is a native son and his work has been prominently displaced at the Hartford Antheneum and the New Britain Museum of Art.  As many times as I walked past one of LeWitt's installation, I never understood his philosophy.  He claimed that he was the originator of the idea behind the design and that idea is separate from the execution of the art.  The exhibition of 105 wall drawings installed over 3 floors was a collaboration of LeWitt, Yale University Art Gallery, the Williams College of Museum of Art, and Mass MoCA.

watch the creative process

Teresita Fernandez: As Above So Below

MoCA is endowed with huge, light galleries and these spaces attract unique, creative art installations.  This type of art is often constructed from a variety of materials and depending on the media, I have either briefly stopped to observe the work or passed by it quickly.  The series of art work created by Teresita Fernandez entitled As Above So Below simply demanded that one stop, observe and enjoye.   My favorite of the several different pieces in this exhibition was called Sfumato and it was fascinating.  The work consisted of over 30,000 small rocks of raw, mined graphite complimented by a hand-drawn graphite marks. Up close you find yourself studying the individual rocks and their tails, but as you step away or look down the gallery you become mesmerized by the shape that emerges and wonder how the artist knew these shapes would be present when all the pieces were in place.

As I wandered through this gallery, I was reminded on the pointillism style that evolved from the European impressionism in the late 1880s.  Once again, I was struck how contemporary art could be seen evolving from earlier schools.

It is important to note that Mass MoCA is more than gallery spaces.  There are numerous performances spaces in various sizes and the leadership of this unique facility has been extraordinarily effective in building a cultural space in the Berkshires.  I would urge anyone interested  in contemporary visual and performance art to travel north and enjoy this fine facility which truly celebrates and supports the creation of art.

The Clark - A Place for Art in the Hills

Traveling to Williamstown, Mass to visit The Sterling and Francine Clark Institute of Art has been a summer time ritual for a number of years.  It is well known for its superb collection of Impressionist and old Master paintings and the well-curated summer exhibitions made it worth the trip. Recently, one could see the construction beyond the existing buildings. While I wondered what the future held for The Clark, I was more anxious to visit the galleries than to consider what the redevelopment would mean.  As newspapers heralded the fact that the work was almost complete and would soon be open to the public, I became seriously curious and began planning my trip.

Naturally, one notices the architectural style of any art museum being visited, but occasionally the building becomes the art and my recent visit to The Clark to view the completion of master plan was one of those occasions.  The Clark is more than a series of galleries - it refers to itself as an art museum and an "international center for higher education, research, and critical discussion of the visual art."  It also supports on its property the Lunder Center at Stone Hill which is the largest regional conservation center in the country.

The Clark Institute of Art, 2014

Over the last 14 years Michael Comforti, director of The Clark and a Choate parent has worked with a team consisting of Pritzker Prized winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando, New York architect Annabelle Selldorf, and Boston landscape architect Reed Hillderbrand.  It is difficult to capture what Comforti has created with a few pictures.  However, I hope that the following images will hint at the elegance and grace of the new Clark Center and encourage all to make the trip to the Berkshires to enjoy this fabulous institution.

Walking past granite, concrete and glass to enter

Steps from basement toward the reflecting pools

Looking to the hills that surround the center

Looking over the back of the new entrance

Original building with new facade

Even though the real purpose of my July visit was to explore the new building, a little time was left to visit the main galleries and a few favorite works.  Walking into the old building one it greeted by a gallery displaying works by Winslow Homer and also George Inness.

Winslow Homer, Undertow, 1886

George Inness, Home at Montclair, 1892

Much has changed with the new expansion and development of the grounds surrounding The Clark, but the extraordinary collection of wonderful art remains the heart and soul of this very special place in the Berkshires.