“At Home and Abroad: Realism, Impressionism and Modernism” will open at the Wiscasset Bay Gallery on Thursday, August 9. From along the Seine and the English coast back to New York and Rockport harbors, this exhibition focuses on European and American landscape and genre paintings spanning the Realism through Modernism movements.

Of particular note is an oil on linen on board by Anna Lloyd (American, fl. 1900-1910) entitled “In the Park.” This impressionistic and colorful work captures a turn-of-the-century afternoon at the park, the adults all sitting quietly on the park benches as the children play nearby. The painting is detailed enough for the viewer to enjoy the tender depiction of the young child in the foreground near her carriage but impressionistic enough that the light shimmering on the turning leaves on the trees in the background is painted with loose brushwork and quick dabs of paint. Florence White William’s (American, 1888-1953) painterly rendition of Boothbay Harbor in “Windjammers at the Dock” is another impressionist work on display, the harbor dock teeming with people as the boats get ready to launch.

Modernist works are highlighted by “Dusk, 1921,” a pointillist painting by French post-impressionist Maurice Lerouille (French, fl. 1910 to 1930s) depicts a lone poplar at dusk, its singular form set against a richly colored sky filled with rolling clouds. Noted Maine and Monhegan Island artists such as Jay Hall Connaway (American, 1893-1970), Abraham Bogdanove (American, 1886-1946), Andrew Winter (American, 1893-1958) and John Fulton Folinsbee (American, 1892-1972) are also represented. Connaway’s “Heavy Seas, Morning Light, Monhegan,” painted in 1948, challenges the viewer by presenting an abstracted and geometric rendition of the Monhegan cliffs, the shapes and angles within the painting becoming almost as important as the crashing surf and rocky shoreline which they represent, while Folinsbee’s thick palette knife interpretations of the Coast Guard Station on Seguin Island and a quiet Maine cove propel a traditional subject matter towards modernism. 

Contrasting these impressionistic and modernist works are a number of early American realist paintings, including a delicately rendered watercolor by William Trost Richards (American, 1833 - 1905) “Low Tide, 1895,” depicting the quiet waves as they roll into shore. Known for his atmospheric and luminous paintings, Richards excelled at meticulously portraying the ocean and beaches of New England, particularly the Newport Beach area. Complementing this piece is “Farm in the Foothills,” a richly detailed oil painting by Harrison Bird Brown (American, 1831-1915) of a quiet, rural farm set amongst the rolling hills in the western part of Maine. 

Recent works by contemporary artists Keith Oehmig, Geer Morton, Tom McCobb, Michael Graves, Don Stone, Guy Corriero, Marjorie Moskowitz, Tom Curry, Diana Johnson, J. Thomas R. Higgins, Roberta Goschke, Judith Magyar, Carlton Plummer and Joan Plummer will also be on display.

“At Home and Abroad: Realism, Impressionism and Modernism” will be on display through Friday, September 21. For more information call 207-882-7682 or visit the gallery’s website at www.wiscassetbaygallery.com. The Wiscasset Bay Gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., and is located at 67 Main Street (Route 1) in historic Wiscasset village.