Farnsworth Art Museum

Berenice Abbott, Lobster Boats, Matinicus Island, Maine

1967, gelatin silver print, 7 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches, collection of the Farnsworth Art Museum, museum purchase, 1987.17.40

Kosti Ruohomaa, Untitled (Wyeth and Olson at Hayrack)

1951, gelatin silver print, 7 1/2 x 9 inches, collection of the Farnsworth Art Museum, Gift of James Moore, 1978.82.68. ©Black Star.

Berenice Abbott, Untitled (East Machias Post Office)

undated, gelatin silver print, 7 3/4 x 7 1/4 inches, collection of the Farnsworth Art Museum, museum purchase, 1987.17.34

Kosti and Andy
May 16 – November 1, 2015
Wyeth Center
The exhibition Kosti and Andy explores the relationship between Maine artists Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009) and Kosti Ruohomma (1913-1961). Both Wyeth, an acclaimed painter in the realist tradition, and Ruohomaa, a photo journalist for National Geographic and Life magazines, were famous for their iconic depictions of rural Mainelife and the local inhabitants--from farmer to fishermen--who called Maine home. Both artists found Maine an inexhaustible subject in which to practice their respective arts, and in particular were fascinated in the relationship between people and their environment. Focusing on the works done between the1930’s-1950’s, selections may include works such as Wyeth’s watercolors Woodstove, Off Teels Island, and Alvaro’s Haycart,along with Ruohomma’s photographic series Trap Day, Monhegan Island, and other selections such as Alvaro, Christina, and Andy, Grand Banks Fishermen Maine Schoolboy (Bobby Lofman), Rockville and Rockport Home Spun Kitchen. Andy states in his forward toNight Train at Wiscasset Station (a book of Kosti’s Maine photographs): “Kosti Ruohomaa had the insight and intelligence to see through his lens the essential character of Maineand its people”. Ruohomaa may have said the same thing about Andy.

PICTURING MAINE: Photographs from the Farnsworth
October 10, 2015 – March 27, 2016
Crosman Gallery
Picturing Maine features the work of photographers for whom Maine’s scenic landscape, rural character, and the lives of its people have been an important aspect of their work. From the mid-twentieth century on, in particular, some of America’s foremost photographers, including Berenice Abbott, Paul Caponigro, Eliot Porter, and Joyce Tenneson have worked here. In addition, the show will include photographs by others who have made Maine their home, among them Ilya Askenazi, John Paul Caponigro, Tilman Crane, Jon Edwards, Brenton Hamilton, Jack Ledbetter, Patrisha McLean, Olive Pierce, Chris Pinchbeck, and Peter Ralston. The exhibition is drawn entirely from the Farnsworth’s collection.