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Maine: State of the Art By Augustus Mayhew On canvas Maine’s rocky coastlines and picturesque landscapes are most often expressed by representational paintings with postcard views of lighthouses, lobster boats, fishermen, and blustery oceans. Homers and Wyeths have for the most part captured the Maine brand, that is, what share Stephen King paperbacks allow. When I lived in Maine, I would trek down to Prouts Neck after a snow to observe what Winslow Homer might have experienced when he spent the winter months at his cliff side cottage studio. Although I can recall it only when one could spend an hour chatting with Doris Homer in what was then a bleak setting. The Portland Museum of Art has accomplished a considerable restoration and now offers tours, describing it as “one of the most significant locations in the history of American art.” Doris, a onetime chicken farmer, was married to the artist’s nephew Charles Homer. Following her death, her estate sold the studio on more than one-half acre in 2014 to the Portland Museum for a reported $2.3 million. During my recent jaunt I thought I would try to find a different perspective. Fortunately, John Walker’s work was at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA) in Rockland. After seeing his show we met up with the English-born artist at his South Bristol studio and gallery. Then, lunch with him and his wife artist Kayla Mohammadi at Seal Point, the setting that has shaped his work. John and Kayla, who teaches painting at Boston University, were soon heading to Australia and Southeast Asia for the winter months. Also at CMCA, director Suzette McAvoy encouraged us to take a look at the work of Maine’s leading peintre noir, Linden Fredericks. |
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The following day we visited with him and his wife Heather at his Belfast studio before they were heading to New Zealand for several months. A few blocks from Linden’s studio, New York abstract expressionist Harold Garde was at his Belfast studio before packing up for New Smyrna Beach for the winter. A few nights later 94-year-old Garde would be in Boston at the opening of his show Some Risks are Rewarded at Artlery 160 Gallery. In Ellsworth, Carl Little, Maine’s prolific author of numerous books about Maine’s art and artists, introduced me to the Courthouse Gallery, a showcase for some of the state’s vanguard artists. Then, as I have always appreciated McKim Mead and White’s Walker Art Gallery (1894), one of Bowdoin College’s architectural jewels, I stopped by to see Constructing Revolution – Soviet Propaganda Posters from between the World Wars. For the past several years, the gallery has been under the guidance of co-directors Anne and Frank Goodyear, formerly associated with the National Portrait Gallery at The Smithsonian, who have plans to move the show to The Wolfsonian-Miami Beach. Tidal Wave: John Walker – From Seal Point June 24, 2017-October 29, 2017/Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA) 21 Winter Street – Rockland |
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At the Studio Grange Hall-South Bristol |
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At the Showhouse Gallery South Bristol |
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At Seal Point For me, Seal Point is what Mont Sainte-Victoire was for Cezanne. – John Walker. |
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Maine Noir: Linden Frederick - Night Stories Center for Maine Contemporary Art 21 Winter Street – Rockland |
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Harold Garde in Maine Belfast |
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Courthouse Gallery Fine Art 6 Court Street- Ellsworth |
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Walker Art Gallery Bowdoin College - Brunswick |
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Photography by Augustus Mayhew. Augustus Mayhew is the author of Palm Beach-A Greater Grandeur |