Maine Art History
with an emphasis on representational art
Introduction
This section of the Traditional Fine Arts Organization (TFAO) catalogue Topics in American Art is devoted to the topic "Maine Art History." Articles and essays specific to this topic published in TFAO's Resource Library are listed at the beginning of the section. Clicking on titles takes readers directly to the articles and essays.
Following the links to Resource Library articles and essays are a listing of museums in the state which have provided materials to Resource Library for this or any other topic.
Listed after Resource Library articles, essays and museums are links to online resources outside the TFAO website. Following these resources is information about offline resources including DVDs, paper-printed books, journals and articles. Our goal is to present complete knowledge relating to this section of Topics in American Art.
We recommend that researchers always search within Resource Library for additional material. Please see TFAO's page How to research topics not listed for more information.
(above: N. C. Wyeth, Mending Traps, Martinsville, Maine, c.1934-36, oil on canvas, 31.9 x 40 inches, Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)
Texts contained in Resource Library by named authors listed by author name in alphabetical order:
Monhegan Artists' Residency Corporation; by Raquel Boehmer and Jim Dugan
The Monhegan Island Art Colony: 1858-2003; by Edward L. Deci
An Eye for Maine: Paintings from a Private Collection by Donelson Hoopes
A Legacy From Maine: The Elizabeth B. Noyce Collection by Jessica Nicoll
Landscape Painting in Portland, Maine by Jessica Nicoll
Articles contained in Resource Library without named authors listed by article name in alphabetical order:
Directors' Cut: Selections from the Maine Art Museum Trail
Maine Moderns: Art in Seguinland, 1900-1940
Monhegan Artists' Residency Corporation
the Ogunquit colony
One Hundred Years of Maine at Work
On Island: A Century of Continuity and Change
Museums and other non-profit sources of Resource Library articles and essays:
Please click on the name of each source to view articles and essays related to that source:
Hudson Museum at University of Maine
Ogunquit Museum of American Art
University of Southern Maine Art Gallery
Other college art galleries and museums:
Ethel H. Blum Gallery, College of the Atlantic
Lewiston-Auburn College Atrium Art Gallery
Maine College of Art Galleries
Robert E. White Gallery, Husson University
University of Maine Museum of Art
University of New England Art Galleries
(above: Jervis McEntee (1828-1891). Mount Desert Island, Maine, 1864, oil on canvas, John Wilmerding Collection. Picture from National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.) Source: Wikimedia Commons - public domain*)
Other online information:
An Adventurous Spirit: The Jane Costello Wellehan Collection is a 2021 exhibit at the Bates College Museum of Art which says: "Focused predominantly on artists living and exhibiting in Maine, the Jane Costello Wellehan Collection is composed of nearly 100 paintings, ceramic vessels, baskets, drawings, photographs, and prints. Over the course of several decades, Wellehan sought out works by some of the state's finest artists of the 20th and early 21st centuries. She followed the careers of artists whose work she collected, often acquiring several works over the years. Wellehan was particularly fond of ceramics, a medium which she felt is underappreciated, and her gift significantly increases the museum's holdings of works by contemporary ceramicists." Accessed 1/22
Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect is a 2017 exhibit at the Brandywine River Museum which says: "This exhibition explores how the artist's work evolved over the decades and connects him more fully to traditions in American and European art." Also see press release Accessed 8/17
Andrew Wyeth's World War I is a 2019 exhibit at the Farnsworth Art Museum which says: "Originally conceived in 2002 by Andrew Wyeth, this exhibition affords visitors an opportunity to see how a childhood interest in the first World War grew into a lifelong source of inspiration" Accessed 9/19
The Art and Artists of Monhegan Island: Selections from the Charles J. and Irene Hamm Collection of Coastal Art is a 2019 exhibit at the New Britain Museum of American Art which says: "Located 10 miles off the coast of Maine, the remote and rustic island of Monhegan has drawn artists from around the world for over 150 years. Appreciated for its natural windswept beauty, quaint fishing village, high granite cliffs, and rocky beaches, Monhegan --known as "The Artist's Island" -- has become the home of one of America's best-known and enduring art colonies." Also see Resource Library article Accessed 3/20
Artists who painted in Maine from Digital Librarian: a librarian's choice of the best of the Web. Accessed August, 2015.
Capturing Arts and Artists in the 1930s
by Candace Kanes; from Maine Historical Society. Accessed August, 2015.
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Maine features five wooden figurative sculptures by Danish artist Thomas Dambo. Accessed 10/21 (right: Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, 2021. Photo © John Hazeltine)
Dahlov Ipcar: Creative Growth is a 2017 exhibit at the Ogunquit Museum of American Artwhich says: "The installation offers a fresh look at patterns and themes that arise from the work of a young and creative mind, with forays into Regionalism and Social Realism, and what the artist would call her practice of non-intellectual Cubism." Accessed 7/17
Dewitt Hardy: Master of Watercolor is a 2019 exhibit at the Bates College Museum of Art which says: "Hardy incisively observed a Maine after the tourists had left. In complex and original compositions, Hardy shunned the predictable picturesque in favor of harsh but often beautiful realities." Also see 6/19/19 essay by Bill Paarlberg Accessed 11/19
Fall River School from AskArt.com. Accessed August, 2015
In the Vanguard: Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, 1950-1969 is a 2019 exhibit at the Cranbrook Art Museum which says: "Formed by a group of craft artists in 1950 with support from philanthropist Mary Beasom Bishop of Flint, Michigan, and led by artists Francis and Priscilla Merritt, who had spent time at Cranbrook, Haystack shares many affinities and connections with Cranbrook Academy of Art." See the virtual tour on the website. Also see article from Haystack Mountain School of Crafts website. Accessed 8/20
Jason DeMarte: Garden of Artificial Delights is a 2019 exhibit at the University of Michigan Museum of Art which says: "DeMarte's illusionistic landscapes recall the long tradition of still life painting in Europe and America, and a rich history of fantasy environments represented in literature and film-from Alice's Wonderland to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory." Also see artist's website Accessed 10/19
Land, Sea, and Sky: Contemporary Art in Maine, an exhibit held at the Addison Gallery, Phillips Academy January 28 - March 18, 2012. Accessed August, 2015
A Life Made in Art: Maud Briggs Knowlton is a 2019 exhibit at the Monhegan Museum of Art & History which says: "This summer the Monhegan Museum of Art & History will celebrate the art and life of Maud Briggs Knowlton (1870-1956), one of the first women to direct a major American art museum and one of the few women to paint on Monhegan Island in the late 1890s." Also see 6/25/19 article in Antiques and the Arts and 5/18/19 article in ArtFix Daily Accessed 12/19
List of Maine painters from Wikipedia. Accessed August, 2015.
"Maine Indian Native Voices Videos" featuring basketmaking, weaving and more, from Hudson Museum at University of Maine. Accessed August, 2015.
"The Maine Print Project: Celebrating 200 Years of Printmaking in Maine" from The Bowdoin Orient. Accessed August, 2015.
Maine's Lithographic Landscapes: Town & City Views, 1830-1870 is a 2019 exhibit at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art which says: "This exhibition explores the history of Maine town and city views published during the first fifty years of statehood through major lithographs and several related paintings." Exhibit information includes online catalogue, object labels, press coverage and 57-minute video discussion by the curators. Accessed 8/20
Marsden Hartley's Maine is a 2017 exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art which says: "Approximately 90 paintings and drawings will illuminate his extraordinarily expressive range -- from Post-Impressionist interpretations of seasonal change in inland Maine in the early 1900s to folk-inspired depictions, beginning in the late 1930s, of the state's hearty inhabitants, majestic coastline, and great geological icon, Mount Katahdin."
Marsden Hartley's Maine is a 2017 exhibit at the Colby College Museum of Art which says: "This exhibition will explore Marsden Hartley's complex, sometimes contradictory, and visually arresting relationship with his native state - from the lush Post-Impressionist inland landscapes with which he launched his career, to the later roughly rendered paintings of Maine's rugged coastal terrain, its hardy inhabitants, and the magisterial Mount Katahdin." Accessed 9/17
Memory in Black and White is a 2015 exhibit at the Brick Store Museum which says: "Memory in Black and White featured the beautiful landscapes and often spur-of-the-moment portraits taken by photographer Albion Moody in Kennebunk, Maine, at the turn of the century." Accessed 5/19
Off the Coast: Landscape Chronology is
a 2005 exhibit at the Bates College
Museum of Art which says: "This exhibition deconstructs the historical
paradigm of New England and Maine while exploring innovations in contemporary
landscape art." Accessed 10/18 
Penobscot Marine Museum, located in Searsport, Maine, contains a collection of James Buttersworth marine scenes c.1860s. Accessed 10/3 (right: Penobscot Marine Museum, 2021. Photo © John Hazeltine)
Reckoning with Nature: Andrew Winter at Monhegan Island is a 2017 exhibit at the Monhegan Museum which does not save online information about its exhibits. However, the exhibit has media coverage in a 7/23/17 article in Linea and a 6/19/17 article in Bangor Daily News Accessed 8/17
Robert Indiana: Placeholder is a 2017 exhibit at the Colby College Museum of Art which says: "In 1978, facing eviction from his long-time studio in lower Manhattan, Robert Indiana (born 1928) relocated to the island of Vinalhaven, located in Maine's Penobscot Bay, where he had worked seasonally since 1969. Robert Indiana: Placeholder features select prints from two series related to the artist's residence in Maine, a time of intense introspection and renewed creativity." Also see artist's website Accessed 8/17
Tree and Tradition: Brown Ash and Native American Basketmaking is a nine-part online exhibit from the Hudson Museum which says: "Maine Native American baskets are made from brown ash -- the Basket Tree -- which grows in wetlands and around streams. Accessed 12/18
University of New England Art Gallery published online the 2007 exhibition catalogue On Island: Women Artists of Monhegan. Accessed 3/15
(above: On the Pier, Mt. Desert Island, October, 2021, Photo by John Hazeltine)
TFAO's Distinguished Artists catalogue provides online access to biographical information for artists associated with this state. Also, Search Resource Library for online articles and essays concerning both individual artists associated with this state's history and the history of art centers and museums in this state. Resource Library articles and essays devoted to individual artists and institutions are not listed on this page.
Books, listed by year of publication, with most recently published book listed first:
Paintings of Maine: A New Collection Selected by Carl Little (Chameleon Book), by Arnold Skolnick. 128 pages. Publisher: Down East Books (October 25, 2006). ISBN-10: 0892727128. ISBN-13: 978-0892727124. Product Description: "This is a book of striking reproductions of Maine landscape paintings by famous 19th and 20th century painters. The paintings have been selected by Arnold Skolnick and are accompanied by Carl Little's commentary, which includes biographical notes about each painter and selected bits of interesting details about the painting scene in Maine that began shortly after the Civil War and has continued to the present day." (text courtesy of Amazon.com)
The Art of Monhegan Island, by Carl Little. 112 pages. Publisher: Down East Books (October 25, 2004). ISBN-10: 0892726482. ISBN-13: 978-0892726486. Product Description: "The Art of Monhegan Island traces the artistic and cultural roots of the special appeal that the island of Monhegan, off the coast of Maine, has held over a broad range of artists who have resided on Monhegan, some of them year-round for long periods, others who summered or lived there only briefly. Little's ability to capture the essence of an artist's eye with his clear and engaging prose style is complemented by Skolnick's ability to select just the right painting to accompany the bon mots of Little, and vice versa. If you have ever visited Monhegan, you will appreciate the way this book captures the spirit of the island. If you have never had that privilege, perusing this book is the next best thing....About the Author: Carl Little is a prolific writer and lecturer on artists who have painted in Maine. When not working on books, Little is director of communications at the Maine Community Foundation. He lives in Somesville on Mt. Desert Island in Maine. Arnold Skolnick is co-author with Carl Little on several books, and he is the owner and founder of Chameleon Books, which has produced more than 50 books on fine art." (text courtesy of Amazon.com)
The Art of Maine in Winter, by Carl Little. 96 pages. Publisher: Down East Books (October 25, 2002). ISBN-10: 0892725923. ISBN-13: 978-0892725922. Product Description: "The Art of Maine in Winter presents more than eighty works by the finest American painters who capture the beauty of winter in Maine. Winslow Homer and Rockwell Kent, for example, stayed well into the winter, creating some of the most memorable images of Maine ever made. Snow on a meadow, ice blocks in a bay, frozen winter streams, sea smoke hovering over the ocean, and houses becoming gingerbread fantasies after a snowstorm -- these are the glories of winter in Maine that have inspired artists for almost two hundred years." (text courtesy of Amazon.com)
Maine Outdoor Sculpture Guide, By Maine Arts Commission, , Abbe Levin. Published by The Maine Arts Commission, 2000. 46 pages. Google Books says: "2 leaflets in pocket: Walking tour of outdoor sculpture: City of Portland -- Walking tour of outdoor sculpture: City of Bangor."
Maine in America: American Art at the Farnsworth Art Museum, by William H. Gerdts, Pamela J. Belanger, Christopher B. Crosman, William A. Farnsworth Library and Art Museum (1999)
Art of the Maine Islands, by Carl Little (Author), Arnold Skolnick (Editor). 96 pages. Publisher: Down East Books (October 1997). ISBN-10: 0892724269. ISBN-13: 978-0892724260
Paintings of New England, by Carl Little (Author), Arnold Skolnick (Author). 128 pages. Publisher: Down East Books (October 1996). ISBN-10: 089272384X. ISBN-13: 978-0892723843. Review: "Over a hundred paintings of New England scenes by almost a hundred artists from Thomas Cole to Winslow Homer are included in this catalog of two centuries of New England representation. These paintings have been gathered from private holdings, museums, and historical societies alike: all provide a wide range of styles and perspectives based on the New England theme. -- Midwest Book Review " (text courtesy of Amazon.com)
Paintings of Maine, by Arnold Skolnick. 128 pages. Publisher: Down East Books (April 25, 1996). ISBN-10: 0892723793. ISBN-13: 978-0892723799. Product Description: "Nearly every prominent American landscape artist has worked in Maine, painting the coast and mountains, recording the infinitely varied beauty of the state. In this paperback edition of a beautiful and popular book, you'll set out on the perfect armchair tour of the greatest paintings the state has inspired - Winslow Homer, Rackstraw Downes, Andrew Wyeth, Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, Childe Hassam, and many others are represented, their works reproduced in glowing, full-color plates." (text courtesy of Amazon.com)
Paintings Of Maine, by Arnold Skolnick. 150 pages. Publisher: Clarkson Potter (May 11, 1991). ISBN-10: 0517582295. ISBN-13: 978-0517582299
Maine Art Now, by Edgar Allen Beem. 303 pages. Publisher: Tilbury House Pub (June 1990). ISBN-10: 0937966320. ISBN-13: 978-0937966327
A Century of Color, 1886-1986: Ogunquit, Maine's Art Colony, By Louise Tragard, Patricia E. Hart, W. L. Copithorne, Barn Gallery Associates (Ogunquit, Me.). Published by Barn Gallery Associates, 1987. 131 pages. ISBN-10: 0962215112. ISBN-13: 978-0962215117
Women Pioneers in Maine Art, 1900-1945, April 9-May 19, 1985: The Joan Whitney Payson Gallery of Art, By Joan Whitney Payson Gallery of Art, Westbrook College, Published by Westbrook College, 1985. 32 pages
Maine Artists, 1850-1899, By Maine State Museum, Maine State Museum. Published by Maine State Museum, 1976. 28 pages
The Cove: Perkins Cove at Ogunquit, Maine, By Carrie Boyd. Lewiston, Maine: PenMor Printers, 1976. 90 pages
Landscape in Maine, 1820-1970: A Sesquicentennial Exhibition, By Colby College Art Museum, Museum of Art, [Colby College, Waterville, ME. Art Museum], Colby College Museum of Art, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Bowdoin College, Maine Federation of Women's Clubs, University of Maine at Orono, Carnegie Gallery, Maine Federation of Women's Clubs, University of Maine at Orono, Art Museum, Colby College. Published by s.n., 1970. 128 pages. "Catalog of an exhibition held at the Colby College Art Museum, April 4-May 10; the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, May 21-June 28; and the Carnegie Gallery, University of Maine, Orono, July 8-August 30." (text courtesy of Google Books)
A Century of Portland Painters, 1820-1920: Exhibition, July 8-Sept. 13, 1970, By Portland Museum of Art, Portland Museum of Art, Published by Portland Museum of Art, 1970. 24 pages "Exhibition held July 8, 1970-September 13, 1970" (text courtesy of Google Books)
Maine and Its Role in American Art, 1740-1963: By Gertrud A. Mellon, Elizabeth F. Wilder. Published by Viking Press, 1963. Original from the University of Michigan. Digitized Jan 24, 2008. 178 pages
Maine and Its Artists 1710-1963: An Exhibition in Celebration of the Sesquicentennial of Colby College, 1813-1963, By Colby College Art Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, Waterville Colby College, Me, William B. Miller, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Art Museum, Colby College Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Colby College, Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Published by s.n., 1963, 31 pages. "Catalog of an exhibition held at the Colby College Art Museum, Waterville, Me. May 4-August 31, 1963, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Ma. Dec. 11, 1963-Jan. 26, 1964, and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, Feb. 10-March 22, 1964." (text courtesy of Google Books)
Leaflets of Artists, By Corelli C. W. Simpson. Compiled by Corelli C. W. Simpson, A. L. Simpson. Published by J. H. Bacon, printer, 1893. Original from Harvard University. Digitized Apr 15, 2008. 114 pages. Full View at Google Books.
Articles:
David P. Becker: "200 Years of Printing Making in Maine" American Art Review November-December 2006 (Volume XVIII, Number 6)
Michael Culver: "The Ogunquit Museum Celebrates Fifty Years" American Art Review July-August 2003 (Volume XV, Number 4)
Michael Culver: "Watercolors from the Ogunquit Museum of American Art" American Art Review July-August 2007 (Volume XIX, Number 4)
Edward L. Deci: "Monhegan Island Artists: A 150-Year Tradition"American Art Review July-August 2003 (Volume XV, Number 4)
Edward L. Deci: "Life on Monhegan Island, 1920 - 1950" American Art Review May-Junel 2007 (Volume XIX, Number 3)
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