Arts & Leisure
"Paintings of Maine" includes area artists, past and present
By Rose Safran
YORK - In 1991, art writer Carl Little joined editor Arnold Skolnick in producing "Paintings of Maine" - a 128-page hard cover book illustrated with examples of fine art by some 50 or so artists, many deceased, some contemporary, all with ties to Maine, either full time or seasonally.Acclaimed artists connected to Maine such as Winslow Homer, the Wyeths - N. C., Andrew and Jamie, Edward Hopper, Marsden Hartley, Fitz Henry Lane and Rockwell Kent were represented, as were less well-known ones, including some contemporary artists, many with several representations of their work.
Snatches of verse and essays accompanied a Carl Little introduction. Maine as place to inspire fine art was extolled and various artists and their works of art were linked to specific places.
The little book was a popular seller. Now, recently published by Down East Books, is its successor prepared by the same team, carrying the same title, size, number of pages and approximate number of illustrations. However, there are differences - significantly, pertaining to the broadened scope of available selections evolving during the 15-year interval between 1991 and 2006, and the successor book's organization.
Maine as artistic inspiration place remains the theme of "Paintings of Maine" and, as formerly, reproductions of paintings are included, this time, however, confined to only one representation per artist. This decision enabled the authors to more than double the number of artists included, selecting over 100, and adding many contemporary Maine artists.
At the same time, they retained roughly one-half of the artists represented in the 1991 volume, in particular, the more acclaimed ones - albeit with some strange omissions such as John Marin, Alex Katz, Leon Kroll and Marguerite and William Zorach. Additionally, while keeping the concept of linking literary fragments to Maine's exquisite light-infused turf, the 2006 book is relatively more site-specific in associating the artists with five distinct geographic Maine locations as defined in separate chapters: the southern coast, interior, mid-coast, Maine Islands and "Mt. Desert Island & Beyond." At times, the delineation seems rather arbitrary, and Carl Little admits that a certain perspective, or stretching, is involved. Nonetheless, an interesting trail evolves, tracing who works - or worked - where and when, integrating mini-biographic profiles with the art-journey around the state. A list of artists included, with referral to 112 respective
Illustrations, although not to text, appears on page 126, allowing for quick reference.
As a resource, the new "Paintings of Maine" - the 11th collaboration between Little and Skolnick - adds considerable knowledge about who produced and is producing Maine paintings at the same time it gives testimony to the variety of art created in the state yesterday and today - and not only pertaining to the state's heralded coastal, rural and mountainous turf, but also to its villages, cities and industry.
The section entitled "Along the Southern Coast" includes representations of art created by Charles Woodbury, Gertrude Fiske, Robert Eric Moore, Beverly Hallam and Patricia Hardy as well as insight into York County locations selected for their art.
Little states that "more than 50 of the artists represented in the present volume have never before appeared in one of my books."
While critics and some Maine residents may lament certain omissions - and inclusions - no such volume can fully satisfy all appetites. Jurying art, whether for exhibits or books, is no easy task.
"Paintings of Maine" is available from Down East Books, P.O. Box 679, Camden, ME 04843-0679, www.downeastbooks.com or by calling (800) 685-7962.
A version of this review first appeared in Maine Antique Digest.
