Maine Realism exhibition at the Courthouse Gallery in Ellsworth

 I hope to see you at the opening reception for the exhibition, "Maine Realism" at the Courthouse Gallery in Ellsworth on September 11th, 5-7PM. The exhibition will be on view through October 18th.

Influences and Inspiration Part 2: Stow Wengenroth

Stow Wengenroth (1906-1977)

Many people have asked me, “What brought you to Maine?”. 

I begin explaining by mentioning my friend and mentor Stow Wengenroth.

Here he is in a photo from 1937 working on his lithograph, titled “Maine”. Stuckey #67, 1937, Boothbay Harbor, ME. The dry brush study he used for the litho can be seen propped against the wall. The lithograph itself was printed in an edition of 75 and is 10-5/8x15-5/16 inches. The finished lithograph is pictured below.

I enjoyed going out for breakfast when I lived in Rockport back in the 60’s & 70’s and my favorite place for breakfast was the Galley, run by Mike Parillo. Its re-opening every spring was a greatly anticipated event for me. Delicious food cooked to perfection, and if he wasn’t too busy, good conversation was a bonus. I would be at his door at opening time, 8am, nearly every day. As summer approached an older gentleman would begin to arrive and both of us being naturally quiet would merely acknowledge each other’s presence with a nod.

One morning, Mike was talking to him and had him sign a book. After the gentleman left, I was curious and asked Mike who he was. “Stow Wengenroth” and he brought me the book to look through. It was Stow Wengenroth’s New England. I was completely taken with his work and immediately bought a copy at the bookstore. The very next morning, I introduced myself to him and invited him back to my studio to see my drawings. He was very encouraging and over time we became friends. We met for breakfast most mornings while he was staying in Rockport and talked about art. He and his work became the single biggest influence on my own work and I owed him more than could ever be repaid for his encouragement and friendship. Nearly a decade after his death, We named our son after him.

Stow lived in Greenport, Long Island, NY during the winter, and traveled to Rockport and Maine for his summers. He spent many of his earlier years traveling by rail along the Maine coast, first in Eastport around 1932 and then to many of the other beautiful towns that have proven to be an inspiration to so many artists. One of the first trips my wife Pat and I took together was what I called a pilgrimage to the places that Stow had worked in. We started by driving straight from Gloucester to Eastport and then worked our way down the coast visiting as many of the towns as we could fit in our schedule. One of the towns was Castine, where we now live. Pictured below are three lithographs he produced from his stays in Castine. 

An interesting side story is, after we moved to Castine we started attending the Castine Unitarian Church. As I sat in the pew and looked at the chandelier and surroundings, I suddenly felt I had been transported into a Wengenroth lithograph.

Meeting House”, Castine, Maine, 19.25 x 16-11/16 inches, edition of 40

“Fog”, Castine, Maine, 1942, 8-3/16x15-1/4 inches, edition of 20

“New England Village”, Castine, Maine, 1940, 7-3/8x13-3/4, edition of 214

Below is a lithograph of a steam train crossing a marsh in Wiscasset.

“Evening Train”, Wiscasset, Maine, 1948, 10x15-1/4 inches, edition 50

The following was written by Carl Little for an article in Maine Boats Homes & Harbors.

“Gregory Dunham traces his passion for the working waterfront to the 1950’s when as a child his family drove through the back streets of Gloucester on the way to a vacation cottage at Long Beach. The colors, smells and sounds of the bustling harbor captivated him and set him on a course toward shoreline painting. A friend and mentor, master printmaker Stow Wengenroth, encouraged Dunham to explore the coast of Maine. After extended expeditions that included visits to Eastport, Lubec and Corea, he and his wife settled in Castine in 1987. Since then the painter has trained his eye primarily on waterfront subjects. In meticulous, light-filled watercolors, he renders the details of this world, be it propellor perched on sawhorses or skiffs pulled up on the beach at Monhegan.”

Until Stow’s death in 1977, I concentrated mostly on graphite drawings and only began lithography myself in 1979. This letter was sent to me about an exhibition of my drawings at the Rockport Art Association. The Harriet he mentions was Harriet Matson, then curator of the RAA and later his wife.

Here are two examples of my own lithographs:

"Propellers", edition of 50, 1988

In the collections of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers University

"Quiet Cove", Prince Cove, Eastport, ME

In the Collection of The Tides Institute and Museum of Art, Eastport, ME

This #11 Brush had belonged to Stow and came to me via Tom Nicholas, who had acquired many of Stow’s tools after his death. It sits next to me on my taboret, but has remained unused, since it came into my possession.

If you would like to learn more about Stow Wengenroth and his work, you can find the two definitive books by Ronald and Joan Stuckey , The Lithographs of Stow Wengenroth, 1931-1972 Boston Public Library in co-operation with Barre Publishers, 1974 and Stow Wengenroth’s Lithographs: A Supplement, Black Oak Publishers,1982. Also, you might be able to find a copy of the aforementioned Stow Wengenroth’s New England, by David McCord, Barre Publishers, 1969. There is a more extensive bibliography that you can probably find online. 

Pictured below is Stow’s book “Making a Lithograph”, published in1936, The Studio Limited, London and The Studio Publications Inc., New York, NY

 Be sure to check out this beautiful new book, "Art of Penobscot Bay", by Carl Little and David Little, (Islandport Press). I'm thrilled to have two of my Castine watercolors featured side by side on pages 96 and 97. Thank you Carl and David for another wonderful book of Maine art past and present.

"Eastport Wharf, Fog Over the Water", 7.5x11.25 inch watercolor on Arches paper

 This is my latest watercolor, just completed today. The scene is from a photograph of an old wharf in Eastport, ME, that I took in 1980 on our first visit to the area. Pat and I revisited Eastport two weeks ago and sadly, this wharf is no longer in existence. I took several photos of it from different angles back in 1980 and I think all of them will become paintings this year. This painting is headed for Full Fathom Five Gallery on Water St. in Eastport, along with several other recent paintings. If you're up that way stop in to see them and the work of the other fine artists and photographers they represent.

 

An article on Wyeth from 2017 in The New Criterion

Andrew Wyeth Forever

 This is a link to an interesting article about Andrew Wyeth and the changing attitudes of his place in American art history. Andrew Wyeth and the artist’s fragile reputation

Monhegan Island, 1976

Monhegan Island sits about ten miles from the mainland off Mid-Coast Maine and has attracted artists to its rugged and rustic charm since the late 19th Century. Among them, Henri, Bellows, Bogdonov, Hudson, Hopper, Kent, the Wyeths and Wengenroth to name just a few. Its attraction for artists seems to grow stronger by the year, as it somehow etches itself into our life’s blood and creative spirit.


I first visited Monhegan in May of 1976 with a group of artists from the Rockport Art Association. We decided to make the trip during the last week of what is called the “off Season”. We made reservations at the Trailing Yew for the week and met up in Port Clyde, where we spent the night to catch the “Laura B”, a mail boat/ferry, to Monhegan early the next morning. Perfect weather for the end of May and calm waters made the trip pleasant and uneventful. We spent our time chatting amongst ourselves and watching for signs of the island.

As you approach the island, the first landmark you can pick out is the lighthouse, sitting atop Lighthouse Hill. Its focal height is 178 feet.

It’s not your typical white lighthouse, but an unadorned, rough hewn gray granite. It lends it a rustic substantiality and was our first clue that there are no frills here. 

As the boat ties up at the dock you notice two things. The first thing you notice is, that this place really is different. You get the sense that you’ve stepped back in time. The other thing you notice is that many people have come down to the dock to see what the mail boat has brought to the island. Aside from us and the mail, it is the lifeline to the mainland bringing food, news and other supplies, which is still the case today.  

Waiting on the dock was a jeep, a battered old pickup, a horse and a couple of hand carts. These were there to help move supplies up the dirt road that led from the dock to the village. Some of the older members of our party availed themselves of the transportation and the rest of us gathered our gear and started up the hill and down the main road to the Trailing Yew at the opposite end of the village. More surprises were to come.

There was a quiet on Monhegan that I can’t quite put into words. You would have to experience it to understand. There are the natural sounds of course, the air, the rustling leaves, the surf all have their sounds, but those are the natural sounds- the “Sounds of Silence”. Then there were the man made sounds of fishing boats, even the electric generators were apparent, but they all seemed more hushed, more respectful of your thoughts than on the mainland.

In 1976, the island as a whole was not yet on the electric grid. Except for the generators, the island had no power. The Trailing Yew was no exception. There was power generated for the kitchen and dining room in the main house, but out in the bunkhouse called Sea Gull Cottage (actually an old captains house) where I stayed, the rooms were then and are still lit by kerosene lamps.

If memory serves me right, the total cost for the 5 days at the Trailing Yew was $90.00 and included breakfast, a sit down or box lunch and a dinner served family style. Today, it’s $140.00 per night including breakfast and dinner, taxes and gratuities, making it still very reasonable.

Aside from the group of artists I was with, there were maybe, four other visitors on the island that I was aware of. Being “off season” the Trailing Yew was the only place serving dinner, so even people staying at the Monhegan House ended up there for meals. The Island Inn had not yet opened for the season. 

After signing in, getting settled, and enjoying our first lunch on the island, we set off in different directions to explore the island. 

Our plan was that everyday we would paint or draw what attracted us and then after dinner we would have a group discussion and critique of each others work, which was fun and instructive. At this time all my work was done in graphite, I didn’t start working in watercolor until later that year. I carried my sketch book and camera with me and just wanted to wander around soaking up as much of the atmosphere as I could. 

 

What I found was,  in fact, there are two Monhegans. The back side of the island could not be more different from the harbor side. Wild rocky headlands plunging to the crashing surf below buttressing

and protecting the serenity and the quite of the village side.

In my next entry, I will post more black and white photos of Monhegan from ‘76 and some of my earlier attempts at watercolor. The documentation of my work at that time was very spotty, so I don’t have a record of many examples. See you next time and get out to Monhegan, if you can for an experience you will not forget or regret.