The locales and landscapes of twenty-six artists who have lived, worked, and painted in the breathtaking state of Maine.
At First Light chronicles twenty-six extraordinary artists of the last two hundred years who have lived and worked in Maine. Published to coincide with the state's bicentennial in 2020, the volume considers the significant contributions artists have made to a deeper and more profound understanding of Maine's history, its land and its peoples. Maine's unique and breathtaking landscape--from its rugged coastline, quaint harbors, majestic mountains, and verdant forests--continues to have a powerful effect on the artists who are drawn to its shores.
Written and expertly researched by some of the foremost scholars and curators in the field, each chapter focuses on a different artist, featuring the artists' artworks and anchored by breathtaking contemporary photography of their homes, studios, and surroundings. From picturesque bungalows to grander structures with beautiful vistas, the houses and studios featured are as diverse as the artists who have inhabited them. The artists featured include fan favorites to lesser known yet important figures from the eighteenth century to the present day, working in a range of media from painting to photography to sculpture, including: Jonathan Fisher, Winslow Homer, Frank Weston Benson, Charles Herbert Woodbury, John Marin, Marsden Hartley, Rockwell Kent, N. C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth, Marguerite and William Zorach, Rockwell Kent, Marsden Hartley, John Marin, Eliot Porter, Fairfield Porter, Rudy Burckhardt, Yvonne Jacquette, Ashley Bryan, Lois Dodd, Alex Katz, Bernard Langlais, Robert Indiana, David C. Driskell, Molly Neptune Parker, Richard Tuttle, and William Wegman.
"Bowdoin College Museum of Art co-directors Anne Collins Goodyear and Frank Goodyear III, along with Farnsworth Art Museum chief curator Michael Komanecky, undertook the unenviable task of picking just 26 artists to represent the sweep of Maine art history...pairing brief biographies with present day photos of artists' homes and workplaces, as well as of places that inspired them."
—DOWN EAST: THE MAGAZINE OF MAINE
"...not only a primer for the history of art in Maine, but also a glorious companion for the armchair traveler. No mere coffee table book here, the nearly 250-page volume is lavishly illustrated and chronicles 26 artist of the last 200 years who have lived and worked in Maine." —ANTIQUES AND THE ARTS WEEKLY
"If you’re looking for a book to pretty up your coffee table, and weigh it down, there are two new art-themed hardcovers being released this week on the occasion of Maine’s bicentennial." —CAMDEN HERALD
