WISCASSET –”Around the World in 22 Days” opens Thursday evening, Aug. 25 from 5-8 p.m. at the Wiscasset Bay Gallery in conjunction with the Wiscasset Art Walk. Light refreshments will be served. This late summer exhibition focuses on Impressionism from across the globe, including works from Egypt, Greece and Russia, as well as France, Hungary, Italy, Holland, and Switzerland.
A vibrant and thickly painted oil of pink roses by Thalia Flora-Caravia (Greek, 1871-1960) highlights the new show. Dark greens and rich pinks of the flowers contrast sharply against the deep gray backdrop. Flora-Caravia led a fascinating life, painting and traveling across eastern and western Europe during the early 20th century. She also served as a war correspondent artist during the Balkan Wars of 1912-13. Contrasting Flora-Caravia’s bold oil is a delicately rendered portrait of a “Lady in White” by Scottish Impressionist, Sir George Reid (1841-1913). Feathery brush strokes capture a wall of purple wisteria behind an elegantly attired woman in white dress and hat. This small, charming sketch was a preliminary study for Reid’s major portrait of Hope Macdonald in the Aberdeen Museum in Scotland. Reid’s work is also in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum and other prominent collections.
Back across the Atlantic in New York, American Impressionists Hal Robinson (1867-1933) and Max Pollak (1886-1970) depicted the lively metropolis in a soft blue green nocturne oil and a subtle monochromatic aquatint respectively. Uniting with these delicate works is Lillian Genth’s “Spring,” a lyrical watercolor of a nude bather approaching a lake’s edge. Genth was considered one of Whistler’s favorite students and it’s easy to see in the poetical watercolor the kindred spirit that must have bonded the famous teacher and gifted student.
Other impressionist works not to miss in the exhibition are a colorful Spanish oil by Jose Amat Pages (Spanish, 1901-91) of a tree-lined promenade in a beach town near Barcelona, a hillside covered with blooming apple trees by American John Joseph Enneking (1841-1916) and a dynamic painting by noted Pennsylvania artist John Folinsbee (1892-1972) of farmer and his mule along the Delaware River.
Among the contemporary New England artists is a sun-filled oil by Roberta Goschke called “Dappled Light” and several new thickly painted works of Monhegan by painter and sculptor David Kasman. Works by Michael Graves, Keith Oehmig, Paul Niemiec and Judith Magyar will also be on display.
“Around the World in 22 Days” will continue at the Wiscasset Bay Gallery, 75 Maine Street through Sept. 15. For further information, call 207-882-7682 or visit the gallery’s website at wiscassetbaygallery.com. Follow the gallery on Instagram @wbaygallery.
