Farnsworth Art Museum & Wyeth Center; Finally, We Made Our Visit Farnsworth Art Museum & Wyeth Center
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My wife is a retired Art Teacher and an artist. My life with her has opened a world that I may never have experienced without her. I can appreciate and understand art much better because of her.
A few years back I was turned onto the works of N.C. Wyeth in the The Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. He studied in the Howard Pyle School of Art. He is well known as an illustrator, muralist and painter. His son Andrew, now considered a great American living artist has noted works in that museum too. Andrews son James is also represented. At about the same time we were also privy to see a show at the Delaware Art Museum called Wondrous Strange that depicted works of Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth and James Wyeth. It was incredible. We soon after purchased the book by the same name.
That trip was capped by a chance meet with Andrew Wyeth when we were in a local coffee shop/diner. He was truly interested in my wife’s experiences as an art teacher to young teens.
Our Experience
Since our visit to the Delaware Art Museum and The Brandywine River Museum we have seen works of the Wyeths at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C and more at the Portland Museum of Art. We also knew there was much more Wyeth work to be found higher up on the Maine coast in Rockland Maine. It was there that we found additional work of N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth and son James Wyeth, known as America’s First Family of Art. It’s not easy to get to being many miles off any interstate but for enthusiasts, it’s worth it.
The Farnsworth Museum was celebrating its 60th year celebration. We were invited as were all other guests to a tent outside offering delicious and plentiful portions of cake, soft drinks and a generously packed “goodie bag” for each person. That was a great way to give me more energy to walk the many halls of this deceptively large museum.
I was pleased that we didn’t have any problem parking and was surprised at the size of the complex. It covers over a city clock of neatly tailored buildings and open area. Though it covers a block it has so much open ground that I didn’t expect to find much inside. i was very wrong.
The complex also includes a church from the 1800s across a street that now houses the permanent Wyeth family art gallery. That was our primary stop. The church was set up on two levels. When my wife made her way up to the second level she pressed the elevator door. To her surprise she thought she was entering another room and didn’t think the elevator doors gave entry to a standard elevator. I thought that presentation of a freight elevator as a room, inventive.
The art works were mounted in various shaped and coloured frames. NC works were downstairs and Andrews Up. All were against a rather stark plain white background. The lofted rooms had little energy but it was the paintings that drew me to the Wyeth’s mix of other-wordly and realistically detailed creations. I appreciated the show and I believe my daughters enjoyed it too. The lighting due to such plain walls we absorbed by each painting well giving a fine view of each.
I found the lighting in the main Farnsworth building, especially downstairs, off putting with a mix of some natural light and artificial. The museum boasts works of noted artists like Winslow Homer, Eastman Johnson, Thomas Cole, Maurice Prendergast and many more.
Before coming to this museum I didn’t know that the Farnworth building has works of many Maine artists. It was originally to be a library dedicated to William A. Farnsworth. Changes led the direction toward an art collection of local Maine artists. The proper name of the place is the William A. Farnsworth Library and Art Museum.
I found this museum quite different than any other I have been to. Its location on the coast of Maine, in Rockland, so far from the masses makes it hard to reach but also perfect for a more local artistic feel without intrusion by the rest of the art world. I felt a gentleness and intimate atmosphere studying the Wyeth works.
MAINE,wonderful coastal towns and so much more.
The Landings Restaurant In Rockland, Maine
It’s a very short drive from the Farnworth Museum
Wondrous Strange: Wyeth Tradition
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