As a young aspiring painter, Burrage, who was born in Portland in 1890, traveled to Giverny, France, where she was enthralled with the landscape and influenced by the French Impressionists, especially Claude Monet. 

She often wrote postcards and letters to family in Maine, sharing her adventures and details of encounters with such distinguished figures as Monet, other artists and avid art collectors. 

About 70 of her paintings and drawings, plus letters offering personal insights into life in the early 1900s, are on display in the “Portland to Paris: Mildred Burrage’s Years in France” exhibit at the Portland Museum of Art. 

While Burrage was a prolific artist until her death in 1983, the exhibition focuses on her formative years as a painter when she traveled overseas. According to the PMA, it reflects “a unique time of innocence, ebullience, and optimism in Mildred Burrage’s life and career, and in the American and European psyche before the onset of the First World War.”

Burrage had a driving passion to become a serious artist, and succeeded. In art circles, she is highly respected. She may not be as famous as Impressionists Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844-1926) or Berthe Morisot (1841-1895), both of whom earned international renown, but she is held in high esteem in the American art world.

“For Mildred Burrage, the years from 1909-1914 were the cornerstone of a long, extraordinary life devoted to pursuing new ways of expressing herself through art,” Earle G. Shettleworth Jr. wrote in the scholarly catalog accompanying the exhibit.

Burrage’s joy in life is reflected in her graceful, beautiful style and impressive use of vibrant colors. Seeing her work can’t help but lift your spirits and leave you with a sense of energy.

 

While viewing “From Portland to Paris: Mildred Burrage Years in France,” be sure to see these outstanding oil paintings: “Souper a Deux (Supper for Two”), an untitled French garden scene with chair, “Giverny Landscape”  and “A November Day: Brittany.”

 

As part of the beautifully installed exhibit, two desks have been set up where viewers are invited to sit and write post cards or letters as Burrage did — to share their feelings about her artwork, which the museum will post on its website. 

 

Burrage’s career spanned seven decades, with her style of art changing over those years. In her later years, she created abstract collages using mica stripped from rocks— combining her art with nature. 

 

Burrage was also a great naturalist and was interested in preserving historic sites, churches and other buildings in Maine.

 

 “From Portland to Paris: Mildred Burrage Years in France” will be on view through July 15.

 

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.”