Portland Museum of Art shines spotlight on new paintings, photos, vases, graphics and other works of art.
The Portland Museum of Art’s “New Acquisitions” exhibit offers a feast for the eyes with its wide range of mediums and styles. Showcased are paintings, graphics, photography, blown-glass vases, and a small display of miniature books. All told, there are 25 works of art.
A large oil painting titled “Afternoon Call,” by Jane Peterson, greets viewers as they enter the exhibit area on the fourth floor. Created circa 1914, it is reminiscent of the styles of Leon Kroll and Robert Henri. The painting featuring bold, bright colors depicts a woman in a long white dress, wearing a light green hat, carrying a pink parasol and sitting on a yellow couch with basket of fruit. The work’s turn-of-the-century-style has a romantic atmosphere and a certain poetic grace.
A heroic-sized woodcut titled “Tyrannus,” depicting a male human form in black and white, by Leonard Baskin, is powerful and overwhelming. It represents Baskins’ great skill in printmaking and reflects the depths of his own feelings about such world events as the Holocaust and the nuclear threat of the Cold War.
A depressing work, it provokes the evaluation of the power of man to make destructive choices. This strong and memorable work is a recent gift to the museum from Rosalyne Bernstein in memory of her husband, Sumner T. Bernstein, a prominent attorney in Portland, who died four years ago.
An uplifting work in the exhibit titled “Mid-Day Reflection” is by Paul Rickert. A large watercolor on paper, it captures the fleeting moments of light and shade on a summer day on Deer Isle, Maine. Its sense of tranquility as seen in the beauty of nature, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, adds a cheerful aspect to the exhibit.
“Self Portrait,” a stunning lithograph by Frances Hodsdon, created in 1994, is a poignant portrait of a strong and powerful, yet hauntingly sad woman. Her pensive gaze stopped this reviewer in her tracks, to reflect on her face in depth. Hodsdon is a master printmaker in Maine, and this work reflects her talent for capturing an image with both sensitivity and depth.
A beautiful John Marin watercolor titled “Warehouses and North River,” created in 1910, shows the everyday bustle of New York City. Part of Marin’s goal was to achieve a sense of constant motion in the painting. He did this with the use of short strokes of paint throughout the soft pastel work. This subtle work stands out like a precious gem in the exhibit.
Stark reality can be seen in the trompe l’oeil style piece by William Michael Harnett titled “Still Life with New York Herald and Butler’s Hudibras.” An oil on canvas, it depicts books, a newspaper, pen with feather, and an ink holder with such clarity that each object looks more than real, with its detail and sharp, clear lines. This work is a real treasure for the museum to have because the artist is famous for the trompe l’oeil style, a style of painting that gives an illusion of photographic reality. The work, which is in excellent condition, was created in 1880, 10 years before Harnett’s death, when the artist was at his peak. It was given to the PMA by Marvin Sadik, an authority on 19th century art and former director of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, in honor of Peggy and Harold Osher, well-known art collectors and patrons in the state.
In contrast to Harnett’s piece with its traditional hard-edge lines, “East Window (Dog Towel),” a modern Surrealistic photograph by Claire Seidl, has a dreamlike quality to it. Superimposed images with translucent overlapping of soft edges suggest objects rather than depict them sharply. This style encourages viewers to make up their own minds about the content of the photograph. The beauty of the work is that one can see different images in it at different times. The museum purchased “East Window (Dog Towel)” through its new photography fund, created to expand PMA’s photography collection.
“Shore Night,” an oil on canvas by Dahlov Ipcar, is an early work and beautiful wotj its simple lines. It is less sophisticated than her later works but equally as beautiful. It depicts three horses galloping through the surf under an orange moon. Two horses are black. One horse is white. Their graceful bodies interact on canvas and look as though they are constantly in motion. The background of the work is monochromatic, using different shades of soft gray and blue, setting off the horses in the foreground in stark contrast, as they gracefully float through the work.
Two blown-glass vases – a pink one by William Morris, created in 1982, and a multicolored one by Chris Heilman, created in 2005 – take your breath away with their beauty.
“New Acquisitions” will be up through Feb. 26.
The museum is at Seven Congress Square in downtown Portland. Gallery hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday. Admission: $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and students with I.D., $2 for youth ages 6 to 17, and children under 6, free. Admission is free from 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays. For more information, call (207) 775-6148 or visit portlandmuseum.org.
Pat Davidson Reef has a master’s degree in education and has taught art history at Catherine McAuley High School in Portland. She has written two children’s books, “Dahlov Ipcar, Artist,” and “Bernard Langlais, Sculptor.” She teaches children’s literature for teacher recertification for the American Institute for Creative Education.
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