Abstract Art on Monhegan Island
1
Pulpit Rock #1 Monhegan
Michael Loew (1907-1985), American
Watercolor on paper, 18" x 15" (w x h), 1951
Monhegan Museum Collection
Source: Monhegan Museum, editedBorn and raised in New York City, Loew purchased a cottage on Horn's Hill on Monhegan in 1960 and added a large studio in the early 1970's. In New York, Loew lived close to 28th Street where many other Monhegan artists had studios. After high school Michael Loew apprenticed to a stained-glass maker. In 1926 he went to the Art Students League. In 1929 he traveled to Europe on a fellowship to study at the Academie Scandinave, Paris. When he returned to the States during the Depression, he worked with various WPA projects. He and his friend, Willem de Kooning, won commissions to paint murals for the New York World's Fair in 1939. In 1946, using the GI Bill he went to the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Art and in 1950 he studied in Paris. From 1958 until his death in 1985 Loew taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. His work is represented in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, and the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine.
2
Pines Monhegan
Remo Farruggio (1904-1981), Italian-American
Oil on canvas, 26" x 24"
Barridoff Auctions, South Portland, ME 2023
sold $700 USD
sold $700 USD
Source: Monhegan Museum, edited
"Remember, a painting is not a picture. A painting has to live for itself–its relation, composition, color, texture–all the elements necessary." - Remo Farruggio. He lived in New York City. He'd spent most of his summers in Provincetown, Massachusetts, when, Monhegan artists living near him in NYC on 28th Street lured him to Monhegan. He quickly worked his way into the social fabric and spent summers living and making art at the Lobster Pot. Born in Palermo, Italy, Farruggio came to the U.S. in 1918 and became a citizen in 1924. He studied at the National Academy of Design, then in Paris at the Beaux-Arts Institute, and at the New York School of Industrial Art with Monhegan artist, A.J. Bogdanove. In the late 1930s he was a WPA artist, and it through that he was awarded his first solo exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City. He taught at art schools in Detroit, Michigan in Portland, Oregon in the 1940s and 1950s. Farruggio was well represented in galleries in New York, Mexico, and his native Italy. In 1950, his work was included in "American Paintings Today," at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in the "International Watercolor Exhibition," at the Brooklyn Museum in 1955. In addition to the Julien Levy Gallery, he had many solo exhibitions, including one in Mexico City, and another in Rome.
Full Moon over Lobster Cove, Monhegan
Ted Davis (1908-1995), American
Watercolor on paper, 19" x 24" (w x h)
Barridoff Auctions, South Portland, ME 2026
sold $500 USD
Source: various editedsold $500 USD
"A picture... is of something; a painting is something." - Ted Davis. Born in New York City, Ted Davis began studying painting in 1927 at The Cooper Union School of Art. He continued his studies. In New York, Davis became acquainted with artists he would also encounter on Monhegan. He kept a 16th street studio in the same building with Alex Minewski and worked with Herb Kallem, and Mike Loew. However, it was paintings by Andrew Winter and A.J. Bogdanove, that Davis saw in New York Galleries that drew him to Monhegan. He first visited the Island with his wife, Evelyn, in 1948, and soon they traded summers in Rockport, Massachusetts for Monhegan. Davis was a fixture in the artist community, selling art supplies from his room at the Monhegan House, and maintaining the artist studio list, a tradition that continues. He showed in New York at the Brooklyn Museum, the Butler Museum of American Art, and in annual exhibitions with the National Society of Painters in Casein, where he was a founding member and officer. In 1997 he was featured in a solo exhibition at the Farnsworth Museum, Rockland, Maine.
4
Private Beach (Monhegan)
Frances Kornbluth (1920-2014), American
Watercolor and collage on paper, 9" x 12" (w x h), 1994
Barridoff Auctions, South Portland, ME 2023
sold $500 USD
Source: various editedsold $500 USD
Frances Kornbluth spent fifty-seven summers working on Monhegan Island from 1957 to 2013. From 1955 to 1959 she studied at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, where she first met Reuben Tam, and went on to receive a master's degree from the Pratt Institute in 1962. It was Tam who first introduced Kornbluth to Monhegan Island and helped define her as an artist. Her Monhegan Island friends and contemporaries included Lynne Mapp Drexler and Elena Jahn. She painted at her studio in Lobster Cove on Monhegan and at her studio in Northeastern Connecticut. She worked in oil, pastel, acrylic, watercolor, ink and mixed media collage. Her work is associated with Abstract Expressionism. She was a member of the National Association of Women Artists, a charter member of the National Museum of Women in the Arts and a founding member of Women Artists of Monhegan Island.
5
Reuben Tam (1916–1991) was a Chinese American landscape painter, educator, poet and graphic artist. He's best known for his referential abstract landscape paintings showing both land and sea. In his later career he worked more in pure abstraction. Tam was born in Kauai, Hawaii, in 1916. He received a degree in education in 1937 from the University of Hawaii and was briefly a public school teacher before attending graduate courses at the California School of Fine Arts. In 1941 he moved to New York. From 1946 to the 1974, he taught at the Brooklyn Museum Art School. One of his notable students from BMAS was Frances Kornbluth. (See painting 4 above.) Around 1950 he began spending many summers painting on Monhegan Island. He later taught courses at Queens College (City College of New York) and Oregon State University.
6
Born in Virginia, Lynne Mapp Drexler (1928-1999) moved to New York City in the mid to late 1950's to further her study art under Robert Motherwell and Hans Hoffman. She and her husband bought a summer house on Monhegan Island in 1971. By 1983, Drexler lived year-around near Lighthouse Hill on Monhegan Island. The island people and landscape were the subject of many of her paintings from that time. Her estranged husband spent more time ashore and found moderate success as an artist, while Lynne lived alone on Monhegan. Drexler's paintings became less strictly abstract and exhibited a mixture of abstract and representational influences, though with no substantial commercial success in her lifetime. In 1999 she died at her home on Monhegan Island. Posthumously, her art was profoundly recognized and successful, collected by major museums. Her work at auctions has realized prices up to $2,027,000 USD for paintings, and $208,275 USD for works on papers.
7Source: Monhegan Museum, edited
8
Born in Detroit in 1917, Alex Minewski left home as a teenager and joined a circus. Later, he returned to Detroit to go to the Society of Arts and Crafts. He moved to New York City to continue his studies at the Art Students League. After WWII, using the GI Bill funds, Minewski studied two years at the Grande Chaumiere in Paris. He returned to New York City to. In 1954, he came to Monhegan at the suggestion of Nick Luisi, staying in the Novelty apartments with Nick and Henry Kallem. Ted Davis, a close friend of Alex's from New York city, was nearby in the Monhegan House. In the early 1970's Minewski was awarded a research grant to study the sea-life of the Maine coast. He became fascinated with the structure of fish, and studies of their forms filled his Monhegan portfolio. Minewski had many solo exhibitions throughout his career, and he exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York, the Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, SC, the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, PA, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art among others.
9
Elena Jahn (1938-2014), born in Moscow, Idaho, was raised in Syracuse, New York. In 1949 her family began spending summers on Monhegan Island, Maine where her career as an artist began. She lived in Rhode Island from 1966 - 1976 and then moved to Brunswick, Maine until 1988, when she began dividing her time between her Monhegan Island studio home and Culebra, Puerto Rico. She received a B.F.A from Syracuse University's College of Art and an M.F.A in Painting from the University of Wisconsin. She continued her studies in Paris on a Fulbright Grant. She has taught in college and university art departments in Wisconsin, Nova Scotia, Rhode Island, Norway, and Maine. She was an active member of the Woman Artists of Monhegan Island. Her subject matter spans from realistic rocks, cliffs, sea, and vegetation of her island homes to more abstract renditions of light and sky, figures and sketchbooks of her worldly travels. She painted up until her death in 2014.
10
Born in Czechoslovakia in 1920, Yolanda Fusco came to the United States in 1930. With a full scholarship, she attended the Art Students League in New and also studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Fusco had solo exhibitions in Long Island, New York City and Daytona Beach, and participated in numerous group shows. She received a Top Award from the Village Art Center Gallery in New York for The Land and the Sea, a watercolor and one of her first paintings of Monhegan Island. Fusco was a member of the National Association of Women Artists and was one of the founding members of the Women Artists of Monhegan Island group. In an explanation of her theory of art, Fusco said she liked to simplify things. "Like poetry, a painting should be the essence of thought and vision."
The Moon-Driven Sea
Reuben Tam (1893-1970), American
Oil on canvas, 35" x 24" (w x h), 1954
Displayed at The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts,
Provenance: Hirschhorn Museum Collection, Sotheby's NY, 1995
Barridoff Auctions, South Portland, ME 2021
sold $8,500 USD
Source: Wiki, editedsold $8,500 USD
Reuben Tam (1916–1991) was a Chinese American landscape painter, educator, poet and graphic artist. He's best known for his referential abstract landscape paintings showing both land and sea. In his later career he worked more in pure abstraction. Tam was born in Kauai, Hawaii, in 1916. He received a degree in education in 1937 from the University of Hawaii and was briefly a public school teacher before attending graduate courses at the California School of Fine Arts. In 1941 he moved to New York. From 1946 to the 1974, he taught at the Brooklyn Museum Art School. One of his notable students from BMAS was Frances Kornbluth. (See painting 4 above.) Around 1950 he began spending many summers painting on Monhegan Island. He later taught courses at Queens College (City College of New York) and Oregon State University.
Untitled
Lynne Drexler (1928-1999), American
Watercolor on paper, 18" x 12" (w x h), 1959
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine
Source: Wiki, various, editedBorn in Virginia, Lynne Mapp Drexler (1928-1999) moved to New York City in the mid to late 1950's to further her study art under Robert Motherwell and Hans Hoffman. She and her husband bought a summer house on Monhegan Island in 1971. By 1983, Drexler lived year-around near Lighthouse Hill on Monhegan Island. The island people and landscape were the subject of many of her paintings from that time. Her estranged husband spent more time ashore and found moderate success as an artist, while Lynne lived alone on Monhegan. Drexler's paintings became less strictly abstract and exhibited a mixture of abstract and representational influences, though with no substantial commercial success in her lifetime. In 1999 she died at her home on Monhegan Island. Posthumously, her art was profoundly recognized and successful, collected by major museums. Her work at auctions has realized prices up to $2,027,000 USD for paintings, and $208,275 USD for works on papers.
Burnt Head, Monhegan
Morris Shulman (1912-1978), American
Casein on paper, 21" x 15" (w x h), 1948
Barridoff Auctions, South Portland, ME 2021
sold $2,000 USD
Morris Shulman (1912-1978) visited Monhegan for the first time in 1948, In 1966 he bought a house on Horn's Hill and summered on the island until 1969. Shulman worked in oils, watercolors, and casein, occasionally adding conte or pastel. He spent his childhood in Hartford, CT after moving there from Savannah, GA when he was two. He began his art studies at the Goodwill Boys Club in painting and sketching classes. At 17 he moved to New York City and attended the National Academy of Design from 1931-1934. He studied at the Siqueiros Fresco Workshop from 1935-1936 and the following year he was Fresco's assistant at Bellevue Hospital. Shulman's first significant exhibition, American Art Today was at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. He continued his studies and in 1950 he received his first watercolor award, exhibiting at the Biennial Exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. Shulman taught at numerous prestigious schools, at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, the School of Visual Arts, The Cooper Union, and the New School for Social Research. He also taught at the Philadelphia College of Art in Pennsylvania and The Skowhegan Art School in Maine. His work appeared in Painting in Maine in 1964 at Colby College and an exhibition at Parson's School of Design in 1977 at the New York WPA Artists Exhibition.
Wreck Fragments, Monhegan
Alex Minewski (1917-1979), American
Oil on Masonite, 16" x 12" (w x h)
Barridoff Auctions, South Portland, ME 2024
sold $800 USD
Source: Monhegan Museum, editedBorn in Detroit in 1917, Alex Minewski left home as a teenager and joined a circus. Later, he returned to Detroit to go to the Society of Arts and Crafts. He moved to New York City to continue his studies at the Art Students League. After WWII, using the GI Bill funds, Minewski studied two years at the Grande Chaumiere in Paris. He returned to New York City to. In 1954, he came to Monhegan at the suggestion of Nick Luisi, staying in the Novelty apartments with Nick and Henry Kallem. Ted Davis, a close friend of Alex's from New York city, was nearby in the Monhegan House. In the early 1970's Minewski was awarded a research grant to study the sea-life of the Maine coast. He became fascinated with the structure of fish, and studies of their forms filled his Monhegan portfolio. Minewski had many solo exhibitions throughout his career, and he exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York, the Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, SC, the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, PA, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art among others.
Moon, Water, Rocks-Monhegan, Maine
Elena Jahn (1938-2014), American
Oil on canvas, 44" x 46" (w x h), 1963
Barridoff Auctions, South Portland, ME 2020
sold $5,500 USD
Source: Wiki and artist's website, editedElena Jahn (1938-2014), born in Moscow, Idaho, was raised in Syracuse, New York. In 1949 her family began spending summers on Monhegan Island, Maine where her career as an artist began. She lived in Rhode Island from 1966 - 1976 and then moved to Brunswick, Maine until 1988, when she began dividing her time between her Monhegan Island studio home and Culebra, Puerto Rico. She received a B.F.A from Syracuse University's College of Art and an M.F.A in Painting from the University of Wisconsin. She continued her studies in Paris on a Fulbright Grant. She has taught in college and university art departments in Wisconsin, Nova Scotia, Rhode Island, Norway, and Maine. She was an active member of the Woman Artists of Monhegan Island. Her subject matter spans from realistic rocks, cliffs, sea, and vegetation of her island homes to more abstract renditions of light and sky, figures and sketchbooks of her worldly travels. She painted up until her death in 2014.
Blue Green Seas
(likely off Pulpit Rock)
Yolanda Fusco (1920-2009) Czech, American
Yolanda Fusco (1920-2009) Czech, American
Watercolor, 23" x 17" (w x h)
Wiscasset Bay Gallery, Wiscasset, ME,
for sale $2,900
Source: Wiscasset Bay Gallery editedBorn in Czechoslovakia in 1920, Yolanda Fusco came to the United States in 1930. With a full scholarship, she attended the Art Students League in New and also studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Fusco had solo exhibitions in Long Island, New York City and Daytona Beach, and participated in numerous group shows. She received a Top Award from the Village Art Center Gallery in New York for The Land and the Sea, a watercolor and one of her first paintings of Monhegan Island. Fusco was a member of the National Association of Women Artists and was one of the founding members of the Women Artists of Monhegan Island group. In an explanation of her theory of art, Fusco said she liked to simplify things. "Like poetry, a painting should be the essence of thought and vision."
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