Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020 - Although this is my 4th visit to "The Farnsworth", it is the first blog I have written about them. And even though it is in New England, it is really not "just around the corner", even from our relatively-central place in New England:

It's about an hour north of Portland, which is a couple of hours north of us.

There are 3 exhibits I would like to see:

So Wendy and I were able to do a nice day-trip, eating sandwiches in the car and arriving in Rockland, Maine a little before our 2 PM tickets (the Museum is open, but call ahead for a specific time to visit):

The Andrew Wyeth exhibition is a wonderful cross-section of his works, ranging from 1937 (at the age of 20):
"Charlie Ervine", 1937 tempera on panel (in the "MAINE: The Farnsworth Collection" exhibit):

up to 2008, one year before he died:
"Goodbye", 2008 tempera on panel:


Highlights include:

"Adrift", 1982 tempera on panel:


"Pentecost", 1989 tempera on panel


"On the Edge Study", 2001 watercolor:


"The Sisters", 1978 watercolor:


All the Andrew Wyeth pieces are from "The Andrew and Betsy Wyeth Collection" (generally housed in storage in Brandwine, PA), and are rarely seen, so that makes this all pretty special.

And because life is made up of stories, here is a nice one, written by Penelope Green for the New York Times (April 26, 2020) in appreciation for Betsy Wyeth, who died April 21, 2020 at the age of 98:

---
In 2008, Ms. Wyeth bought an old sail loft that had been taken down years earlier to make way for a parking lot in Port Clyde, Maine. She had it put back together on one of the three islands in “Betsy’s Village.” It was a surprise birthday gift for her husband, yet another object for him to paint, and with a gallery inside.

He worked on it all summer, and as Dr. Stoner said, did two curious things. He painted it at first with a bright sky, and then altered it to make the day a stormy one. And sometime that December he scraped off his signature. “It was as if he was erasing himself,” , Dr. Stoner said.

As was her custom, Ms. Wyeth named the work: “Sail Loft.” But after Mr. Wyeth’s death in January 2009, she gave it a new title, “Goodbye, My Love,” which she later changed to the more simple “Goodbye.”
---

Other Farnsworth Art Museum highlights include:

Fitz Henry Lane - "Shipping in Down East Water", 1854 oil:


N.C. Wyeth - "Bright and Fair - Eight Bells", 1936 oil:


N.C. Wyeth - "The Morris House, Port Clyde", c.1937 oil:


I-95 South was ablaze as we headed back home:


Dinner at 5 Guys!! - Thank You God for a Great little adventure!!

Audio today - Wendy read me her sermon, which she will be giving this coming Sunday.

and then music:

Pete Townshend - Empty Glass, 1980 2nd album


John Ritter - Hello Starling, 2003 2nd album


The National - The National, 2001 debut album


The National - Trouble Will Find Me, 2013


U2 - 2000-12-05: Irving Plaza - New York, New York, USA, 2000 radio broadcast [31 minutes]


Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes/The Three Degrees - The Heart Of Soul, 1994 (Recorded Live In Concert in 1989)


Kenny Chesney - Greatest Hits II, 2009
including "I'm Alive" (a nice duet with Dave Matthews).

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Winslow Homer's "Mink Lake, Adirondacks"

Wednesday, Sept 16, 2020 - After 2 days of hiking in the Adirondacks (read about that here), I wanted to take advantage of being "out here", and not just head home:

The Adirondacks have been a favorite destination of many of the artists I love:

William Sonntag - "Coming Storm in the Adirondacks", ca. 1865 [Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH] (I have not seen)

Homer Dodge Martin - "An Adirondack Lake", n.d. [Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA] (I saw October 24, 2015)

William Trost Richards - "Bouquet Valley Adirondacks", 1866 [Biggs Museum of American Art, Dover, DE] (I saw May 1, 2014)

Edmund Darch Lewis - "Mirror Lake, Adirondacks", 1870 [Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH] (I have not seen)

Sanford Robinson Gifford - "A Twilight in the Adirondacks", 1864 [Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME] (I saw August 12, 2014)

I've been thinking a lot about Winslow Homer these days, and he did many paintings in the Adirondacks. One of his 19 pieces out at The Cleveland Museum of Art is "Mink Lake, Adirondacks", 1892 watercolor:


It turns out that the current name of Mink Lake is "Mink Pond", and that is where the North Woods Club is located. Other "North Woods Club" pictures by him include:

"North Woods Club, Adirondacks (The Interrupted Tete-a-Tete)", 1892 watercolor [The Art Institute of Chicago]


"The Lone Boat, North Woods Club, Adirondacks", 1892 watercolor [The Art Institute of Chicago]


So I printed out my map, my driving instructions, plus the image:


and headed down the road from the Super 8 in Ticonderoga early Wednesday morning.

By 8:30 AM I was on a nice dirt road deep in the Adirondack State Park:


Very nice going over the Boreas River:


Going along the north side of "Huntley Pond":


I reached the (wide open) gate for the "North Woods Club" at 8:53 AM:


When Winslow Homer visited here in 1892, the Club had only been established for 6 years.

I reached the lower end/outlet of Mink Pond at 9 AM:

I parked and walked around to the clubhouse/boathouse. Not another soul was anywhere nearby:



It certainly was a privilege to be at this beautiful place in the calm of late summer/early fall. I can just picture Winslow Homer out there, a century-and-a-quarter ago.

And then I headed on home (with quick stops at the Bedford, MA Library and the Salem, MA Library) - Thank You God for a Great little adventure!!

Driving music:

On these cold-mornings-in-the-mountains, I have the windows rolled up. That means I can listen to books-on-tape. Neal Stephenson (a sci-fi author I really like) wrote his opus Cryptonomicon in 1999, and I'm starting cds 1 + 2 today:


then "music I don't usually listen to" on my orange nano:

Joe Jackson - Live at Rockplast, recorded 1980-83, released 2012 live double-album


John Legend and The Roots - Wake Up!, 2010

It would go on to win the 2010 Grammy Award for Best R and B Album.

John Mayer - Paradise Valley, 2013

This album sounded so nice, I listened to it twice.