This story will be updated.
PORT CLYDE, Maine — Three original paintings by Jamie Wyeth and some signed prints were destroyed in an overnight fire that raged through waterfront businesses in this tourist town, an art gallery employee said.
Around 11 p.m. Wednesday night, part of the Dip Net restaurant on the shore of Port Clyde caught fire. The blaze quickly spread to neighboring businesses, including the Port Clyde General Store and Linda Bean’s Maine Wyeth Art Gallery.
Nobody was hurt in the fire, which was still smoldering as of 1 p.m. Thursday as firefighters continued to put out the flames.
The gallery, which is owned by Linda Bean, a Port Clyde resident and a member of the family that owns L.L. Bean, had three original paintings by Jamie Wyeth, who has a home in Tenants Harbor. He is from a celebrated art family whose lives and work are linked to the region, including his father, Andrew Wyeth. The family’s patriarch, N.C. Wyeth, Jamie’s grandfather, had a home in Port Clyde.
Since the building was burned nearly completely and a majority of it collapsed, Christy Christensen, who worked at the gallery this summer, said the originals and prints are gone.
One of the originals, she said, was worth around $100,000. The lost Jamie Wyeth works were “Snapper,” “With Green Peppers” and “Red Tail Hawk,” Christensen said.
Along with the originals and prints, several books about the family and the history were burned in the fire, Christensen said. The gallery was also a research center, so there was a library table full of rare books about the family’s history.
“[The Wyeths] were just like locals, even though they’re famous,” Christensen said. “It’s just losing a piece of history.”
The Bangor Daily News is awaiting a statement from Linda Bean, the owner of the gallery.
Jules Walkup is a Report for America corps member. Additional support for this reporting is provided by BDN readers.
