Editor's note: The New Britain Museum of American Art provided source material to Resource Library for the following article and essays. If you have questions or comments regarding the source material, or wish to obtain a copy of the exhibition catalogue, please contact the New Britain Museum of American Art directly through either this phone number or web address:



 

The Tides of Provincetown: Pivotal Years in America's Oldest Continuous Art Colony, 1899-2011

July 15 - October 16, 2011

 

The exhibition The Tides of Provincetown: Pivotal Years in America's Oldest Continuous Art Colony, 1899-2011 focuses on Provincetown's legacy as an art colony. It covers over 100 artists from Charles W. Hawthorne's founding of the Cape Cod School of Art in 1899 to the present day. It is the largest and most comprehensive survey of the art colony completed in over 40 years.

The exhibition and accompanying scholarly catalogue is divided into nine sections that focus on various events in the art colony, such as Forum 49 and the founding of the Fine Arts Work Center. The artists included are displayed in one of these sections to highlight the narrative of Provincetown's importance in America's art history. While many of the artists -- such as Hans Hofmann and Robert Motherwell -- worked or lived in Provincetown for years, some major figures of the 20th century -- including Stuart Davis, Willem de Kooning, Charles Demuth, Marsden Hartley, and Mark Rothko -- also "passed through." The exhibit demonstrates that many of the most important artists of the past century were inspired by Provincetown.

Also see from the exhibition's catalogue:

Bringing the Colony to Light; Introduction by Alexander J. Noelle

Charles Webster Hawthorne Founds the Cape Cod School of Art; essay by James R. Bakker

The Provincetown Art Association and Museum; essay by Christine McCarthy

Blanche Lazzell and the Advancement of Modernism; essay by Robert Bridges

Ross Moffett and the Modernist Tradition; essay by Josephine C. Del Deo

Hans Hofmann in Provincetown; essay by Deborah Forman

Academic and Impressionist Traditions in Provincetown; essay by Elizabeth Ives Hunter

Tirca Karlis Gallery: Pivotal Decades of Provincetown Art; essay by Julie Heller and Whitney Smith

Restoring the Art Colony to Its Former Glory; essay by Deborah Forman

The Gravity of Provincetown; essay by Alexander J. Noelle

 

To view:

Checklist for the exhibition please click here

Contributors of texts in the catalogue for the exhibition please click here

 

 

Resource Library editor's note:

Resource Library wishes to extend appreciation to Alexander J. Noelle, Assistant Curator, and Claudia Thesing, Director of Development, of the New Britain Museum of American Art for their help concerning permission for reprinting the texts accompanying this article.. The above descriptive text for the exhibition is courtesy of the Museum.

RL readers may also enjoy:

and biographical information on selected artists cited in this article in America's Distinguished Artists, a national registry of historic artists.

Read more articles and essays concerning this institutional source by visiting the sub-index page for the New Britain Museum of American Art in Resource Library.

 


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