After a number of days of beautiful Maine summer weather, today was a bit cloudy and rainy - perfect conditions for a visit to the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland. Each of the exhibitions that I visited was wonderful. They are a "must see" for anyone who is visiting Rockland. Indeed, they are worth making a special trip to Rockland just to see them (and of course while in Rockland there are many other fun things to do).
I have to admit that I had not been a fan of Jamie Wyeth's "Angry Sea Gulls" series of works, and I had not seen many of his other works. However, the "Phyllis Mills Wyeth - A Celebration" exhibition of his paintings about his late wife (1940-2019), has made me a Jamie Wyeth convert. These works give a snapshot of various aspects of the life of a very interesting woman. They want to make me go learn more about her life. For those of us who suffer through allergy season, take a look at Jamie's stunning 2012 painting, "Catching Pollen" (image attached) which captures Phyllis catching and seemingly enjoying the experience of the yellow pollen which permeates the painting in a magical way.
"Slab City Rendezvous" includes works by a group of New York artists who found there way to Maine for the summer (or longer). Alex Katz, Lois Dodd, Neil Welliver, Bernard Langlais, Yvonne Jacquette and others are represented in this wonderful exhibition.
Other exhibitions I visited today and which definitely merit taking time to view are "On a Mountain in Maine," "The Screen Show" (much more interesting than I thought it would be!) and "Andrew Wyeth's World War I" which includes some incredible drawings from when he was 8 years old.
That was all I had time to see today, but there are other exhibitions which are available. I'm sure I will enjoy them as much as the ones I had the opportunity to see today.
