Major acquisitions bridge gap in museum’s collection

The Portland Museum of Art announces two new major acquisitions: “An Open Window,” an 1872 painting by Winslow Homer, and “River Cove,” a 1958 painting by Andrew Wyeth. Both paintings will be on view Jan. 22 at 4 p.m., when the PMA reopens after a brief closure as part of the multiyear project, Your Museum, Reimagined, which is focused on improving access to the museum’s collection.

“An Open Window” is one of a series of four paintings that Homer created in 1872 that features a solitary woman dressed in black, facing away from the viewer. The unknown woman is standing in a modest room, looking out onto a bright landscape likely inspired by Homer’s summer travels that year to Ulster County, New York.

In addition to the PMA’s Winslow Homer Studio in Prouts Neck, the museum has an array of holdings of Homer’s work. “An Open Window” fills an important gap, as it is the first oil painting in the collection from this particular decade, and therefore bridges the PMA’s collection of early Homer oil paintings, such as his 1863 “Sharpshooter,” with the artist’s later paintings, such as his 1894 “Weatherbeaten.” The painting is a partial gift from an anonymous family with deep roots in Maine, and a partial purchase with funds from an anonymous foundation.

“An Open Window represents a moment in Homer’s career after the Civil War, but before his time in England,” said Jessica May, the PMA’s chief curator. “It’s a transformative addition to the PMA’s Homer collection, both in terms of period and subject matter, and will help the museum to demonstrate the ways in which Winslow Homer was very much an exceptional artist, one who was responsive to his own moment in American art history. It will also allow the PMA to draw parallels between Homer and his peers. One of the most exciting aspects of this acquisition is that the painting itself is virtually unknown to contemporary viewers, as it has not been on view to the public since 1938.”

In addition, the PMA has acquired “River Cove,” a 1958 tempera painting by Andrew Wyeth that is regularly identified by art historians as among his most important and impressive artworks. Andrew Wyeth, the son of American painter N.C. Wyeth and the father of artist Jamie Wyeth, cited Winslow Homer as an influence, and used both watercolors and tempera to create what he called “Homeric” landscapes.

The painting of a small jetty outside the artist’s home in Cushing is devoid of human presence, yet includes subtle indication of the presence of birds and aquatic life. Its most extraordinary feature is its near-inversion of landscape imagery: the majority of the peaceful landscape view appears upside down, with the forest reflected in calm waters. The painting, which has been on view at the PMA regularly since 1992 and has been loaned to many major exhibitions of Wyeth’s work, was donated by David Rockefeller in memory of his son, Richard Rockefeller, who lived in Falmouth until his death in 2014.

“We are incredibly honored and grateful to David Rockefeller for his generous gift and his acknowledgment of the PMA as a fitting place to honor his son’s memory,” said PMA Director Mark Bessire. “Through these important additions to the PMA’s collection, by two of the world’s most significant artists, the museum is demonstrating its commitment to improving the visual arts in the region, and defining a new standard for museums of its size.”

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Jennifer Cook, director of media and civic relations, at jcook@portlandmuseum.org or at (207) 699-4094.

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