Jamie Wyeth: Untoward Occurrences and Other Things

This exhibition focuses on recent paintings by Jamie Wyeth done between 2010 and 2017. Its title is taken from a series of eleven paintings he did in 2013-2017 that depict scenes on Monhegan Island, some real and some imagined. In the seven works from the series included in the exhibition, three show Rockwell Kent, the early twentieth century American painter whose work Jamie greatly admires. Kent summered on Monhegan for several years and even spent a winter there, and Jamie has a studio in a house Kent built there for his mother.

Another work from the series is a portrait of World War II veteran, Harry Odom, who lives on the island, and another depicts an awkward social moment at a church fundraiser where one of the guests imbibed a bit too much and tipped over his table. In these paintings Wyeth combines his fascination for everyday occurrences in which there seems to be something more, even unsettling, in what is taking place. Rendered freely and expressively, they reveal Wyeth’s interest in storytelling, as well as his love of Monhegan for both its beauty as well as its sometimes strange cast of characters. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue with an essay by Henry Adams, a scholar of American art at Case Western Reserve University, who also contributed to the museum’s recent publication, Andrew Wyeth at 100.

Contributing Sponsors

Exhibition support made possible from Anna Mae Twigg.  This exhibition is sponsored by Lucinda Watson. Contributing sponsors include Flowers by Hokoken. The Primary Media Sponsor of this exhibition is Maine Home + Design