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The Tides of Provincetown:
Pivotal Years in America's Oldest Continuous Art Colony (1899-2011)
May 19 - August 26, 2012
The Tides of Provincetown:
Pivotal Years in America's Oldest Continuous Art Colony (1899-2011), the most comprehensive survey of America's oldest art colony
is on display at the Cape Cod Museum of Art May 19 through August 26, 2012.
Organized by the New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT, this
significant collection includes the work of Provincetown's most celebrated
and influential artists. It is the largest and most comprehensive examination
of the art colony to date; the last Provincetown survey (exhibited over
40 years ago) ended with artwork from the 1970s.
The Tides of Provincetown focuses
on Provincetown's legacy as an art colony which the Boston Globe
in 1916 described as the "Biggest Art Colony in the World". The
exhibition includes over 100 artists and as many artworks, from Charles
W. Hawthorne, founder of the Cape Cod School of Art in 1899 -- and, thereby,
the colony itself -- to Joel Meyerowitz in the present day.
Divided into eight sections, the exhibition highlights
key years and events in the art colony as well as Provincetown's importance
in American art history.
Artists in the exhibition were selected based on their
contribution to the Provincetown art colony as well as their influence beyond
Cape Cod. With its focus on the key moments in Provincetown's history, The
Tides of Provincetown highlights artists who played a crucial role in
the colony and were the important figures and artistic forces. Their presence
in Provincetown as well as their influence on other artists through schools,
mentorship, and/or the pure aesthetic power of their artwork is examined.
While many of the artists worked or lived in Provincetown
for years -- such as Milton Avery, Charles W. Hawthorne, Henry Hensche,
Hans Hofmann, Blanche Lazzell, Robert Motherwell, and E. Ambrose Webster
-- others "passed through" the art colony. Even if they were only
at the tip of Cape Cod for a short period of time, the exhibition shows
that many of the great artists of the 20th century -- including Stuart Davis,
Willem de Kooning, Charles Demuth, Red Grooms, Edward Hopper, Jackson Pollock,
Mark Rothko, and Andy Warhol -- were inspired by Provincetown.
Object labels from the exhibition
Please note that each object label:
- Describes the artist's connection to Provincetown
- Links the artist to a pivotal time in the history of
Provincetown
- Describes the significance of the object
For more information on the various sections and artists
- as well as a full checklist - please consult the exhibition catalogue.
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- Milton Avery (1885-1965)
- March on the Beach, 1947
- Oil on canvas
- New Britain Museum of American Art
- Gift of Evangeline Zalstem-Zalessky (1959.09)
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- During the 1950s and 1960s, the world experienced a dramatic
shift of artistic innovation which enveloped the art colony in Provincetown
and spread throughout the country. Abstraction and Modernism became much
debated topics among artists, critics, and the general public. Milton Avery
is recognized as the American "poet" whose images inspired the
appreciation of figural abstraction.
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- Avery was born in Altmar, New York, but was educated
and spent his adolescent years in Hartford, Connecticut. The artist moved
his family to Provincetown in 1958 and became close friends with gallery
owner Tirca Karlis Cohen. Tirca opened the Tirca Karlis Gallery in June
1958 with her husband and became a staunch advocate of abstraction. Featuring
abstract artists for almost twenty years, Tirca Karlis Gallery raised Avery's
art to a new level of admiration and familiarity.
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- In March on the Beach Avery
paints his daughter within a simplified Cape beach scene. The details of
the landscape have been erased as Avery chose only the figure and specific
hues to delineate the composition. Avery writes, "I am not seeking
pure abstraction, rather, the purity and essence of the idea expressed
in its simplest form." This concept intrigued viewers when Avery's
work was showcased in Provincetown. As the art colony boasted an influx
of artists, Tirca Karlis Gallery continued to highlight the innovation
and impact of Avery's work before as well as after his death.
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- Milton Avery (1885-1965)
- Night Nude, 1953
- Woodblock print-artist's proof
- Julie Heller Gallery
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- Developing into a well-known artist in and outside of
Provincetown, Milton Avery pursued several different media throughout his
career. Along with painting and etching, Avery also created woodblock prints,
showcasing his unique style.
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- The woodblock print Night Nude depicts a reclining
figure under a simplified night sky. Avery solely used lines to separate
the sky from the land and the stargazer. Only the colors blue and black
have been used with a silent, austere effect. When creating his woodcuts,
Avery never used a press but rather the back of a spoon to prepare for
the final image. Avery could then create several prints from the same woodblock.
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- The artist's love for different types of media was shared
by the Tirca Karlis Gallery. From the 1950s-70s, groups of artists and
tourists flocked to the art colony to take part in the culturally diverse
environment. Tirca was influential in providing exhibition space for these
new artists, as well as supplying a gallery specifically catering towards
"young collectors." The Tirca Karlis Gallery encouraged those
unable to afford expensive paintings to begin collecting works in other
media, such as prints. These "original graphics" were signed
by the artist, created in editions, and placed beside pieces more widely
accepted as "fine art." As a result, the work of significant
twentieth-century artists, such as Avery, became accessible to a greater
number of people who may not have otherwise gained an appreciation for
the abstract figural approach.
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- Will Barnet (b. 1911)
- Youth, 1970
- Oil on board
- New Britain Museum of American Art
- Charles F. Smith Fund (1980.51)
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- The earliest influence on printmaker and painter Will
Barnet was the work of Honoré Daumier (1808-1879), whose lithographs
were studied by the ten-year-old-Barnet. From 1931-1934, Barnet attended
the New York Art Students League and traveled to Provincetown as did many
other students looking to gain new perspectives. After starting what continues
to be a prolific career, Barnet returned to the art colony in the 1950s-60s
to vacation with his family. Along with Peter Busa (1914-1985), Barnet
was a key figure in the Indian Space Movement -- an informal group of New
York artists sharing a common attraction to Native American form -- which
was championed by the Tirca Karlis Gallery.
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- Barnet is considered both an artist and educator, teaching
at the Art Students League from 1945-1980. During the mid-twentieth century,
Barnet pursued abstraction but later embraced figural representation as
exemplified by Youth. The painting focuses on key figures who present
a narrative, creating a set stage to be interpreted by the viewer. Barnet
often incorporated cats in his images, also seen in Youth. While his influence
on abstract art during the mid-twentieth century was important, it is his
return to the human figure and emotion that solidifies his mastery of visually
capturing personal moments for posterity.
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- Susan Baker (b. 1946)
- The great dandy Charles Demuth rode the local bus endlessly,
waving his handkerchief at his bemused cronies, 1998
- The History of Provincetown (1999)
- Acrylic on paper
- New Britain Museum of American Art
- Museum purchase with funds
- donated by Stephen Borkowski
- in honor of Vivian Bullaudy (2010.105)
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- After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design
with a degree in painting, Susan Baker went to Provincetown in 1969 as
a Visual Arts Fellow during the inaugural year of the Fine Arts Work Center's
art and writing fellowship program. She has lived on the Outer Cape ever
since.
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- The History of Provincetown is
a comical illustrated account of the colony. Beginning with the floating
of homes across the bay in the mid-1800s and ending with the completion
of its publication, Baker's book demonstrates that life in Provincetown
has provided an everlasting series of anecdotes to be told and retold.
These episodes include Charles Demuth (1883-1935) riding the local bus,
Eugene O'Neill meeting a seal while swimming, and Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)
hurling an easel at Hans Hofmann (1880-1966). Through her clever narration
and bold illustrations, Baker captures the distinct spirit of the town
and its all-embracing nature. She even gives a nod to the rising tourism
industry by dedicating her book "to those who came, couldn't park,
and left."
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- Although she is deeply involved with the local art scene
and its heritage, Baker consciously avoids the influence of other artists'
styles. Clearly inspired by Provincetown's landscape and history, she simply
prefers not to subscribe to any of its schools in order to maintain her
signature style of a bold palette, strong gestures, and sense of narrative.
Running beneath the surface of Baker's art are themes of pain, wisdom,
and reflection that pertain both to herself as an artist and to Provincetown
as a developing colony.
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- William Baziotes (1912-1963)
- Dusk, 1954
- Oil on canvas
- New Britain Museum of American Art
- A. W. Stanley Fund and Charles F. Smith Fund (1984.31)
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- William Baziotes was born in Pittsburgh and came to New
York City at the age of twenty-one to begin his art studies at the National
Academy of Design. During the Great Depression, Baziotes was employed by
the Works Progress Administration, beginning as an art teacher in 1936.
It was not until the 1940s, however, that Baziotes' style matured into
a distinct visualization of his creativity.
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- Surrounded by the vibrant New York art scene as a member
of "The Irascibles," Baziotes pursued images of the subconscious
and became heavily influenced by the Surrealists, such as Roberto Matta
(1911-2002). His pursuit was to define the primeval shapes that floated
in his mind and inspired his paintings. He claimed, "It is the mysterious
that I love in painting. I want my pictures to take effect slowly, to obsess
and to haunt." In Dusk, an organic form reminiscent of a sea
creature fills the length of the canvas. The lack of linear definition
evokes a sense of mystery, the setting is obscured, and the movement is
dreamlike in quality. Baziotes' interest in the transitory nature of time
is also evident in this piece, as the title points to a moment when the
day fades into darkness, concealing what is visible.
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- Like many of his contemporaries, Baziotes spent summers
in Provincetown and contributed to the ongoing exhibitions at the Tirca
Karlis Gallery. Baziotes was also close friends with Hans Hofmann (1880-1966)
and through the gallery's display of his work, Baziotes' reputation as
an innovative artist became recognized by those who frequented the Gallery.
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- Gerrit Beneker (1882-1934)
- Noon Hour, 1915
- Oil on canvas
- Private Collection
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- Born in Michigan, Gerrit Beneker was an illustrator in
New York City until 1912, when he became one of several eager young artists
to venture to Provincetown to study with Charles W. Hawthorne (1872-1930).
For Beneker and many of his peers, the summer training developed into years
of year-round lessons.
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- Noon Hour clearly shows the
strong influence Hawthorne had on Beneker: the choice of a common working
class man (John Worth) as the subject, combined with the still-life element
of lunch and the dark, brooding color palette for the background. Beneker
continued to employ many of Hawthorne's teachings when he painted a portrait
series of Ohio workers at various steel, welding, and electric companies.
It was Beneker's interest in depicting the working class in factory environments
that shaped subsequent stages of his career.
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- Beneker maintained a strong connection to the Provincetown
colony throughout his life, creating numerous paintings of the town and
its inhabitants. He was also one of the artists who founded the Provincetown
Art Association and stood at the center of the flourishing art scene in
1915 -- the year Noon Hour was painted.
- Varujan Boghosian (b. 1926)
- King's Crown, 1949-50
- Watercolor
- New Britain Museum of American Art
- Harriet Russell Stanley Fund (1951.17)
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- Untitled, 1973
- Construction
- New Britain Museum of American Art
- Gift of Edward Giobbi (2001.107)
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- Varujan Boghosian is best known for his collages, constructions,
and watercolors. He was born to Armenian immigrants in New Britain, Connecticut,
where his father worked at The Stanley Works. After serving in the US Navy
during World War II, Boghosian entered the Vesper George School of Art
in Boston, where he met Henry Hensche (1901-1993). Hensche visited the
school annually to give painting demonstrations and teach lessons on color,
which drew a strong following. In 1948, Boghosian traveled to Provincetown
to study at Hensche's Cape School of Art, and his connection to the colony
was cemented when he became one of the original members of Long Point Gallery.
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- King's Crown is a dark, yet
whimsical watercolor that Boghosian completed in 1950 when he was studying
under Hensche. Dream-like and fantastical, King's Crown depicts a dilapidated
manor surrounded by a strange landscape -- a mysterious vision that invites
the viewer to examine the notions of home and memory. The New Britain Museum
purchased King's Crown in 1951, becoming the first museum to include Boghosian's
work in its permanent collection.
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- Untitled is an example of
Boghosian's constructions, which he assembles from everyday objects found
in antique shops, yard sales, and flea markets. Boghosian's appreciation
for old, weathered objects relates to his understanding of time and history
-- "Nothing is really thrown away. Memory is never thrown away."
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- Max Bohm (1868-1923)
- Mother and Children, n.d.
- Oil on canvas
- Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis, Massachusetts
- Gift of Anne Packard (2010.23.1)
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- Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Impressionist Max Bohm traveled
to Europe at the age of nineteen and would not take up a permanent residence
in America again until 1916, when he returned with his wife Zella and three
children. In Paris, Bohm enrolled at the Académie Julian and was
exhibiting his work at the Paris Salon within a year. The celebrated artist
began his teaching career also in Europe, attracting students from all
over the globe to the small village of Etaples, France. Upon his return
to America, Bohm lived between Bronxville, New York, and Provincetown,
where he was a vital part of the thriving art colony.
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- Bohm's arrival in Provincetown coincided with a major
influx of artists-a direct result of the ongoing war in Europe, which prevented
many from traveling abroad. Bohm's Impressionist sensibility is evident
in his idealized painting, Mother and Children, which depicts
a woman cradling an infant, surrounded by additional children. The pastoral
setting is treated loosely as the group takes prominence in their display
of affection.
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- Bohm was often drawn to the subject of motherhood and
children and used his own family members as models in his work, including
possibly this painting. An unfinished work, Mother and Children
was started in France before the onset of World War I and is representative
of the European Impressionist techniques Bohm brought with him to Provincetown.
Bohm's work continues to inspire younger generations of Provincetown artists,
including his granddaughter, Anne Packard (b. 1933).
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- Paul Bowen (b. 1951)
- Untitled (Redwood), 2005
- Redwood
- Collection of the Artist
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- Originally from Colwyn Bay, Wales, Paul Bowen became
a year-round resident of Provincetown in 1977, when he was accepted to
a two-year fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center. For Bowen, the Center
was a catalyst for cultural and artistic transition: the influence of his
Welsh background receded from his practice as he began to draw new inspiration
from the local landscape and architecture. It was also through the Center
that Bowen met Myron Stout (1908-1987) and Jack Tworkov (1900-1982), whose
work made a profound and lasting impression on him. Bowen became a member
of Long Point Gallery in the 1990s and went on to become one of the founders
of artSTRAND -- a contemporary cooperative gallery -- in 2005.
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- While the form of Bowen's sculptures echoes the abstract,
geometrical structure of Constructivism and Cubism, his work also maintains
a fundamental connection to the physical world. Like most of his assemblages,
Untitled (Redwood) is based almost entirely around found objects -- pieces
of salvaged, wooden beer vats held together by butterfly joints. Although
Untitled (Redwood) contains no moving parts, it evokes the sense
of movement nonetheless, as it is tilted at a sharp angle and seems to
be precariously balanced. A product of the reappropriation of something
discarded, the sculpture is also emblematic of the constant flow of time
and the process of decomposition and subsequent regeneration.
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- George Elmer Browne (1871-1946)
- Nickerson Street, 1902
- Oil on canvas
- Collection of Helen and Napi Van Dereck
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- Born and raised in Boston, George Elmer Browne studied
at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as well as abroad in
Paris at the Académie Julian. This international academic training
sparked his interest in travel. Throughout his life, Brown explored and
painted in various countries around the world, including in Canada, Italy,
and Spain.
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- Browne moved to New York in the 1890s and summered in
Provincetown annually. A love of the unique landscape and nature of the
Cape comes through in his depictions of Provincetown. Nickerson Street,
for example, conveys Provincetown's legendary light as well as the quaint
beauty of the colony. Browne's lively brushwork unifies the elements of
the composition and delineates form. "Let all your drawing come from
the end of your brush," he would tell his students.
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- Browne taught at the Grand Central School of Art in Europe,
and opened his own school in Provincetown, The West End School of Art,
in 1916. It was one of five acclaimed schools at the time, together receiving
thousands of students from across the nation and globe. Brown lived most
of his later life in Provincetown, painting the colony and its landscape.
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- Fritz Bultman (1919-1985)
- Kiting, 1977
- Collage of painted papers and gouache
- Provincetown Art Association and Museum
- Gift of Renate Posnold (2006.1825)
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- Fritz Bultman was one of the leading Abstract Expressionists
in the United States who studied in Provincetown. Bultman met Miz Hofmann,
wife of teacher and artist Hans Hofmann (1880-1966), with whom he was able
to stay during his short sojourn in Germany. This led to his reconnection
with Hans Hofmann in 1937 upon his return to the United States.
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- From 1938-1942, Bultman studied directly under Hofmann
in his Provincetown school. In 1964-1965 Bultman was awarded a Fulbright
Scholarship, allowing him to work in Paris. He returned to making large
collages using pre-painted paper cut or torn and assembled into shapes
reminiscent of his figurative drawings and containing more abstract symbolism.
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- Within Kiting, the overall form reads as though
the object may be a functioning kite, however, the title does not elicit
such a reading. Rather, it implies the act of "kiting," the process
of hoisting an object through the air, relying on gusts of wind. The paper
seems to be torn from a spiral-bound notebook, giving it an even more ephemeral
feel -- light, delicate, and disposable -- akin to a kite in the air.
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- Bultman was a key figure in Provincetown's artistic history.
He painted at the Days Lumberyard Studios and was involved in the creation
of Forum '49 with Hofmann and others. Additionally, Bultman became a founding
member of the Fine Arts Work Center in 1968.
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- Peter Busa (1914-1985)
- Original Sin II, 1946
- Oil on canvas
- Private Collection
- Courtesy ACME Fine Art and Design
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- Peter Busa studied at the Art Students League under Thomas
Hart Benton (1889-1975) whose class also included Busa's friend Jackson
Pollock (1912-1956). There, Busa befriended Arshile Gorky (1904-1948) and
Stuart Davis (1892-1964), both of whom had begun using biomorphic shapes
and geometric patterns in response to Pablo Picasso's (1881-1973) influence
on Cubism as well as their own close study of non-Western art.
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- In the early 1940s, Busa became one of the first American
artists to experiment with automatic drawing (the uninhibited and spontaneous
gesture of the artist's hand) as a means of exploiting the creative potential
of the unconscious. This approach would influence his entire oeuvre; most
notable are his images of transformation, such as Original Sin II.
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- Busa moved to Provincetown in 1952, and in 1957 officially
adopted the identity of an Abstract Expressionist under the guidance of
Hans Hofmann (1880-1966). As a result of his study, Busa began to approach
his work as "structure and as movement and color," clearly drawing
from Hofmann's tendency to combine the Cubist attention to volume and Fauvist
emphasis on color. Busa insisted that his art was "completely removed
from the orbit of Western culture and more emphasized folk art, children's
art, [and] art of the primitive." As such, Original Sin II
reflects the artist's constant dialogue between geometric and expressionistic
abstraction.
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- Giorgio Cavallon (1904-1989)
- Untitled, 1955
- Oil on canvas
- New Britain Museum of American Art
- Friends Purchase Fund (1990.15)
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- Giorgio Cavallon, an important early figure of American
Modernism, lived and worked in two sun-soaked, color-filled regions --
Provincetown and his birthplace, Sorio, near Vicenza, Italy. Both locations
boast famous colorists, who drew inspiration from the radiance of the sun
and surroundings. Cavallon placed an emphasis on light, using his signature
white pigment to create highlights. Yet the abstraction that accompanies
his veils of white was not inherent to Cavallon. It was only after studying
with Hans Hofmann (1880-1966) in 1934 that he began to paint abstractly,
developing into one of the founders of the American Abstract Artists in
1936, and one of the earliest artists to relinquish realism, declaring:
"abstract is real."
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- In the early 1950s, Cavallon became confident in his
abstractions, putting full trust in his inner vision and memory. His own
hand-made white pigment became a key feature in his work post-1954. As
seen in Untitled, Cavallon began by borrowing the skeletal structure
of the founder of Neo-Plasticism, Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), outlining
a grid of charcoal onto the canvas. Relying on Hofmann's "push-pull"
theory, he then painted the grid with colors of varying strengths, onto
which he would later paint thick opaque and thin translucent strokes of
white to "cancel things out." As his career progressed, Cavallon
fused rigid geometry with warm, soft, sloppy, and uniquely expressive brushstrokes,
citing Hofmann's insistence upon extracting relationships of form and color.
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- Ada Gilmore Chaffee (1893-1955)
- Figures and Dog (The Gossips),
ca. 1915
- Color woodblock (white-line) print on paper
- Collection of Helen and Napi Van Dereck
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- Ada Gilmore Chaffee was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan,
but moved to Ireland to live with her aunt following the death of her parents.
She returned to the United States to attend the School of Art at the Art
Institute of Chicago from 1903-1907. Like many Americans, Chaffee traveled
to Europe in 1912, only to return home at the outset of World War I. She
moved to Provincetown in 1913, where she met her husband Oliver Newberry
Chaffee (1881-1944). While in Provincetown, Ada was enthralled by the exuberance
of the colony, and her interest led to her involvement in the birth and
development of the white-line woodblock print. The Provincetown Printers
was a group of artists, including B.J.O. Nordfelt (1878-1955), who sought
to express American Modernism by experimenting with the ancient medium
of woodblock print. As a member, Ada created works that elevated the status
of printmaking in the early twentieth century.
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- Ada's prints, such as Figures and Dog (The Gossips),
depict her distinctive style that combined the softness of Impressionism
with the progressive nature of Modernism. Here, she uses the architecture
of Provincetown's wharves and cottages to add a colorful Cubist feeling
to the genre scene of two women gossiping on the beach. Her prints were
consistently charming and infused with a quiet, pensive quality, yet the
bold choice of color and subtle use of abstraction point to her Modernist
tendencies.
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- Oliver Newberry Chaffee (1881-1944)
- Portrait of Self, 1935-37
- Oil on canvas
- Private Collection
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- An abstract printmaker and painter, Oliver Chaffee enrolled
first in the New York School of Art to study with William Merritt Chase
(1849-1916); then, in the summer of 1904, he went to Provincetown to study
with Charles W. Hawthorne (1872-1930) at the Cape Cod School of Art. Hawthorne's
teaching methods emphasized personal expression, and the time spent painting
outdoors sharpened Chaffee's understanding of color and light, and heightened
his depictions of natural sensations. Chaffee's subsequent artwork earned
him a spot in the famous 1913 Armory Show.
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- Chaffee's life in Provincetown exposed him to the various
currents of American Modernism. Chaffee was influenced by Impressionism,
Fauvism, Cubism, and Expressionism and created semi-abstract works such
as Portrait of Self that depict dynamic, vibrant and personal interpretations
of his surrounding environment or, in this case, himself. Portrait of
Self is a rare depiction of how the artist optically sees the world
versus how it appears on his canvases. Works such Portrait were
completed towards the end of his career, and were characterized by a stronger
sense of personal expression and imagination as Chaffee was becoming less
concerned with popular approval and mainstream artistic practices.
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- Chaffee's complex vision and career were undoubtedly
nurtured by the artistic community of Provincetown, as was that of his
wife, fellow artist Ada Gilmore Chaffee (1893-1955).
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- Ciro Cozzi (b. 1921)
- Untitled (Provincetown Draggers),
1951
- Oil on Masonite
- Collection of the Town of Provincetown
- Courtesy of the Provincetown Art Commission
- Gift of Josephine and Salvatore Del Deo
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- The formation of Ciro Cozzi's artistic style was directly
influenced by both Henry Hensche (1901-1992) and Hans Hofmann (1880-1966).
Cozzi moved to Provincetown as a permanent resident in 1951 after a summer
spent taking classes with Hensche in 1949. Along with fellow artist Salvatore
Del Deo (b. 1928), Cozzi owned and operated the Provincetown restaurant,
"Ciro & Sal's," a lucrative Italian establishment which serviced
locals and tourists alike in the art colony for over fifty years.
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- Cozzi's Untitled (Provincetown Draggers) depicts Provincetown fishing vessels. Known as "draggers"
because of their unique function, these ships were equipped with nets and
other towing capabilities. As fish were trapped in the nets they could
then be stored in the hold of the dragger, oftentimes kept alive until
the ship docked. The painting is defined by geometric shapes enlivened
with a bold use of color. Sharp angles delineate the forms of the draggers
as they dock in the harbor. Cozzi expertly creates depth through shading
and illumination, and while he characterized his work as Abstract Expressionist,
the Bronx-born artist subtly incorporates an Impressionist style into his
creations.
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- Cozzi continued to be a vocal Provincetown artist and
businessman throughout the mid to late twentieth century. Using his restaurant
as a local gallery, artists from the area would congregate to discuss art
theory while enjoying Italian cuisine. Although Cozzi's artistic pursuits
waned in his later years, his effect on the Provincetown art colony remains
celebrated.
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- Nassos Daphnis (1914-2010)
- S-6-74, 1974
- Epoxy enamel on masonite
- Provincetown Art Association and Museum
- Gift of John and Jean Grossman (1984.708)
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- Resisting stylistic classification, Nassos Daphnis's
work continually evolved throughout his lifetime. Born in Greece, Daphnis
traveled to America at the age of sixteen and worked in his uncle's flower
shop in New York. By drawing the flowers that surrounded him, Daphnis explored
realism and surrealism, until he became intrigued with abstraction and
developed his unique color plane theory, believing that color's existence
in space was orderly and methodical. Daphnis claimed, "I got more
and more interested in color and form as form, and not being involved with
any emotional qualities of the individual . . . and nothing else."
This visualization of geometric stability and tension through primary colors
alone would become a prevalent characteristic of his work.
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- It was during the formative years of Daphnis's transition
to a "geometric manner" that the artist first came to the Provincetown
art colony in 1953. Daphnis exhibited at the Tirca Karlis Gallery, as well
as Gallery 256, and became a noted artist frequenting the coast. In S-6-74,
Daphnis has employed his color plane theory, compositionally arranging
the same image in a rotating fashion. Daphnis used straight lines for his
geometric pattern and focused on the visual tensions of the picture plane.
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- Stuart Davis (1894-1964)
- Analogical Emblem Landscape,
1933
- Oil on composition board
- New Britain Museum of American Art
- Olga H. Knoepke Fund and Members Purchase Fund (1996.16)
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- Stuart Davis studied at the Henri School of Art in New
York in 1909 and was one of the youngest artists to exhibit at the pivotal
1913 Armory Show. However, his participation in the exhibit was of less
importance to him than was his exposure to European Post-Impressionists
such as Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) and Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). After
experimenting with these artists' innovations in form and color, Davis
developed a Modernist vocabulary and became a major exponent of Cubism.
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- Davis began spending his summers in Provincetown in 1913
and painted the docks of the harbor and local architecture in the Cubist
style. One of the earliest Modernists to arrive in the colony, Stuart found
the source for his paintings in observed reality, and then infused what
he saw with bold, brash, and rich colorful expression. Landscapes such
as Analogical Emblem Landscape represent his adherence to Synthetic
Cubism (the second phase of the movement, which incorporated new textures,
surfaces, and collage elements) in his depiction of natural forms, particularly
those suggesting the characteristic environment of American life. He dubbed
his visual language a "coherent, objective color-space continuum"
and rearranged the visual elements in flat, poster-like patterns with playful
details and sharply contrasting colors. The zest and dynamism of Davis's
work embodies a unique and distinctive American style that was undoubtedly
nurtured by the progressive artistic environment of Provincetown.
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- Nanno de Groot (1913-1963)
- Girl in Chair, 1955
- Oil on canvas
- Private Collection
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- In 1946 Nanno de Groot moved from Balkbrug, Holland to
the United States to work as a cartoonist. The following year, the self-taught
de Groot made his debut in the New York art scene, where he befriended
the now famous artists of the New York School of Abstract Expressionists.
In 1949, the artist started vacationing in Provincetown for the summer
-- a time that his wife would call his most productive, as "there
was a certain rhythm [in Provincetown], a system of events each year that
led to an enormous production of work in two or three months."
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- In the 1950s, de Groot's work moved away from his previous
"Linear Figure" series composed of varied evocative strokes of
black paint, to his "Women in Chairs" series. Girl in Chair
characteristically features a faceless figure that related to the women
around him, including his later wife and fellow artist, Pat de Groot (b.
1930). Deeply involved in Eastern thought and meditation, the artist relied
on these faceless figures to directly capture his expressions.
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- Similar to the practices of other Abstract Expressionists,
de Groot would squeeze strands of paint onto the canvas and then work the
thick layers with a brush. As seen in Girl in Chair, his insistance
upon anonymity emphasizes the expressiveness of the figures without creating
portrait studies. In this way, de Groot maintained a connection with nature
through abstraction:"In moments of clarity of thought I can sustain
the idea that everything on earth is nature, including that which springs
forth from a man's mind, and hand."
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- Romolo Del Deo (b. 1959)
- The Beauty of Time, 2010
- Bronze (unique)
- The Kathryn and Thomas R. Cox III Collection
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