Frederick Bosley, 1881-1942, Elizabeth in Red, or The Red Kimono, 1928. Oil on canvas; 38 x 46 in. Private Collection. (Photo, Jeremy Fogg)
Don Gorvett, Life Boat, Merchant’s Row, 2018. Reduction woodcut; 29 x 24 in. (Photo, courtesy of the artist)
Sublime Impressionist paintings and powerful expressionist woodcuts are featured in two exhibitions of very different styles of art, both produced by artists with roots in the area. On display at Portsmouth Historical Society’s galleries through September 12, “Twilight of American Impressionism” showcases two extraordinary New England painters who were masters of Impressionism during their lifetimes, but who are today largely forgotten: Alice Ruggles Sohier and Frederick A. Bosley. Concurrently in the upstairs gallery, the exhibition “Don Gorvett: Working Waterfronts” will present over sixty works by this famed contemporary Seacoast printmaker.
“Everybody loves Impressionist art, and those of us in the Portsmouth area are especially fond of Gorvett’s atmospheric woodcuts,” observed Historical Society director Brian LeMay. “These two exhibitions are significant for what they tell us about the changing history of art and the culture of the Seacoast area, but the real reason people will love these shows is that the art in them is just heartbreakingly beautiful and powerful, but in very different ways.”
Sohier and Bosley both worked in the style of Impressionism, popularized by French painters like Monet and Renoir in the last quarter of the 19th century. Bosley and Sohier, however, did not reach artistic maturity until the early 20th century, when representational art was falling out of favor, and abstract art was coming into vogue. Although the two artists were acknowledged as supremely talented painters during their lifetimes, neither became a major star, and their works have been rarely seen in public since they were first painted, remaining largely in the private collections of their families. Guest Curator William Brewster Jr., a descendant of both Sohier and Bosley, brings his unparalleled knowledge of the two artists to the project.
Later in the 20th century, artist Don Gorvett studied art at the same School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where Bosley and Sohier trained, and where Bosley himself became a teacher. This connection also ties the three artists to Edmund Tarbell and Gertrude Fiske, who were the subjects of two earlier exhibitions organized by the Historical Society. “These exhibitions form bookends for our shows on the Boston School,” remarked LeMay, “telling the story of how artistic styles germinate in particular times and places, gradually gain currency, and then retrospectively become part of a longer tradition in the history of art.”
Unlike his predecessors, Don Gorvett was attracted by the sights and sounds of the New England waterfronts, painting seascapes and boat portraits throughout his career. Although he too could capture a sense of the serene and picturesque, Gorvett often celebrated the mechanical and gritty, rather than fashionable drawing rooms and peaceful sunsets. Gorvett is today renowned for his distinctive work with the reduction woodcut technique, whereby the artist personally prints multiple, superimposed impressions from the same block, each of which is subtly different from preceding layers, produced as parts of the block are gradually cut away. The results are final works of remarkable complexity and beauty.
Both exhibitions are presented with the generous support of Martha Fuller Clark and Geoffrey E. Clark, Pauline C. Metcalf/The Felicia Fund, Inc., William & Arlene Brewster, Joseph MacDonald Family, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, Anthony Moore Painting Conservation, Jameson & Priscilla French, Piscataqua Savings Bank, and Cambridge Trust. Full-color catalogues of the exhibitions, produced by Portsmouth Marine Society Press, are available on the Society’s website (www.PortsmouthHistory.org), and are for sale in the Discover Portsmouth Museum Shop.
“Twilight of American Impressionism” and “Don Gorvett: Working Waterfronts” are on view from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, every day from April 2 to September 12. The Society’s galleries are located adjacent to the Discover Portsmouth Welcome Center and Museum Shop at 10 Middle Street in downtown Portsmouth. Admission is $7.50 for adults, free for children under 18, seniors 70 and older, Society members, and active and retired military. Admission is free for everybody on the first Friday of every month. Social distancing is mandated, masks are required and available for free, along with abundant hand-sanitizer.
Walking tour tickets, Society memberships, and information on the latest events and virtual lectures are all available at: www.portsmouthhistory.org or by calling 603-436-8433.
The witch hazel is blooming outside the Discover Portsmouth Welcome Center! Spring has definitely arrived!
The Welcome Center is open 10 am to 5 pm Seven days a week!
Please note that we are still following health and safety protocols, asking all visitors to wear masks and follow a one-way route through the gallery, with a maximum number of people allowed in the building. We are making great progress on vaccinations, but we want stay smart and safe!
We look forward to seeing you all!
Art ‘Round Town Friday, April 2
Twilight, Portsmouth’s Finest Hour, 1994. Reduction woodcut. Collection of Joanne Holman & Lance Hellman. Photo, courtesy of the artist.
We’ve got some wonderful artists who will be in the gallery Friday evening, April 2, between 5pm and 8pm. Among those planning on being here are Don Gorvett, whose lifetime of marvelous reduction woodcuts is on display on the second floor, as well as Betsey Wish, whose work is for sale in the shop. Her whimsical lobstermen are inspired by the real fishermen working the waters off Kittery.
From my vantage point on the water in Kittery photographing lobstermen at work, I discovered that while lobstering is difficult, it can be experienced as a particular art form. Each lobsterman has honed his skills with an individual style and technique. Bringing my homemade cookies in a dry sack while kayaking and offering them to the lobstermen I learned that each one of them has his own unique story, representing his own way of life. The real story of Kittery’s local lobstermen is one to be shared with our community.
Call for Volunteers!
Looking to spend a few hours outside the house? Like people? Interested in art? We’ve got a spot for you!
We’re looking for Welcome Center greeters and gallery docents for the sprint and summer. If you’re interested, click here, or email our volunteer coordinator Jessica Kliskey.
Above: Don Gorvett, Bend in the River, Bow and Ceres, 2016. Reduction woodcut; 21 x 40 in. Collection of Nancy and Brian Pearson.
“Don Gorvett: Working Waterfronts”
April 2, 20201–September 12, 2021
at the Discover Portsmouth Welcome Center 10 Middle Street, Portsmouth, NH
Open 7 days, 10 am–5 pm
starting April 1st
“Don Gorvett: Working Waterfronts” presents over sixty works by this famed seacoast master printmaker highlighting the dynamic commercial harbors of the region. Renowned for his imaginative seascapes and “boat portraits,” Gorvett’s work celebrates the mechanical and gritty alongside the serene and picturesque.
Don Gorvett, Woodbury Studio from Marginal Way, 1995. Reduction woodcut; 24 x 17.25 in. Private collection.
Don Gorvett, Twilight, Portsmouth’s Finest Hour, 1994. Reduction woodcut; 29 x 44 in. Collection of Joanne Holman & Lance Hellman.
Don Gorvett, Tug, John Wanamaker, 1998. Reduction woodcut; 30 x 32 inches. Collection of Michael & Jasmine Tullis.
Don Gorvett, Life Boat, Merchant’s Row, 2018. Reduction woodcut; 29 x 20 in. Collection of Don Gorvett Gallery.
Thank you to the lenders and donors who made this exhibition possible
Martha Fuller Clark and Geoffrey E. Clark • Pauline C. Metcalf / The Felicia Fund, Inc. ☙❧ William & Arlene Brewster • Joseph MacDonald Family • New Hampshire State Council on the Arts ☙❧ Anthony Moore Painting Conservation • Jameson & Priscilla French ☙❧ Piscataqua Savings Bank • Cambridge Trust
Women in Portsmouth History!
Plate, probably Dover, New Hampshire, 1995. Salt-glazed stoneware with cobalt-blue decoration; diam. 11 in. Gift of Eileen Foley (2015.011).
As the inscription reads, this charming plate commemorates the selection of Eileen Foley as Portsmouth’s Citizen of the Year on Market Square Day in 1995. Helen (“Eileen”) Dondero Foley (1916-2016) was one of the most remarkable women in Portsmouth’s long history. She served as mayor for a total of sixteen years between 1968 and 1997, following in the footsteps of her mother, Mary Carey Dondero, who was elected as Portsmouth’s first female mayor in 1945. She also served seven terms in the New Hampshire Senate and was involved in a multitude of civic activities. In the words of Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Eileen Foley “was not only an incredible advocate for the Seacoast Region in New Hampshire, but also around the globe by helping to establish sister cities and international trade. So much of the local progress made in e-commerce, tourism and historic preservation, can be traced back to Eileen’s leadership and foresight.”
A Small Treasure; Great Women
We’ve got some fun things in our online shop to celebrate Women’s History Month!
at the Discover Portsmouth Welcome Center 10 Middle Street, Portsmouth, NH
Open 7 days, 10 am–5 pm
Admission:
FREE FREE FREE FREE $7.50
Portsmouth Historical Society Members Seniors 70+ Children under 18 Active & retired military Adults
Admission grants access to the John Paul Jones Historic House Museum at 43 Middles Street, at the galleries in the Academy Building at 10 Middle Street, and can be applied toward a discount on historical walking tours or towards an annual membership
Don Gorvett: Working Waterfronts” presents over sixty works by this famed seacoast master printmaker highlighting the dynamic commercial harbors of the region. Renowned for his imaginative seascapes and “boat portraits,” Gorvett’s work celebrates the mechanical and gritty alongside the serene and picturesque.
Don Gorvett was born in Boston in 1949 and raised in Cambridge and Somerville. Much of his youth was spent at the seashore, swimming, fishing, and observing fishing-town industry. Don’s family moved to Burlington, Massachusetts, where high school art instructor Elinor Marvin discovered his talents. He received from Mrs. Marvin an extraordinary education, focused on drawing, graphic arts, and theatrical set design. He attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and, after graduation, moved to Gloucester, Massachusetts, to pursue a career in painting. With the encouragement of Elinor Marvin, and the support of Annabelle Lewis, a longtime summer resident of Ogunquit, Don began his annual summer-long painting excursions to Ogunquit, Maine. While in Gloucester, Don was introduced to Mrs. Buswell, heiress to the Jacobean-style Stillington Hall estate. She offered the rooms in the estate’s theater for the artist to live in. There Don set up his first etching press and began a series of large-scale woodcuts based on Richard Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung. He also created a series of drypoint etchings recording the Gloucester waterfront.
This brief film by Steven Galante (sgalanteproductions.com) is an excellent peek into Don Gorvett’s creative process.
The seaside and harbors are fundamental to his work, as is his passion for history, drama, and music. His skills as a draughtsman and his understanding of the medium of printmaking are features of his bold, graphic style and the nature of his imagery. The reduction woodcut marries naturally with the maritime rusticity of New England’s harbor towns. All woodcuts are designed, cut, and editioned by Don in his studio. In 2006, Gorvett opened his first gallery with a printmaking studio in Portsmouth, now known as the Don Gorvett Gallery.
Early in 2020, Don moved his studio from Portsmouth to the Beacon Marine Basin in Gloucester. The new studio’s spacious second-floor loft at the marina also allows him to exhibit his own work and that of other nationally known artists and printmakers. Today, Gorvett’s work is in many private and public collections throughout the world.
“Artistic Encounters over the Last Thirty Years”
an evening with Don Gorvett
Join us for an evening lecture with printmaker Don Gorvett as he shares tales of life working as an artist on the Seacoast and shows us the process of creating a reduction woodcut. “Working Waterfronts,” currently on display at the Portsmouth Historical Society, is the first ever retrospective on Gorvett’s work, offers a great opportunity to see the evolution of one artist’s work, and explores the dynamic medium of the reduction woodcut.
June 17, 2021 in-person at the Discover Portsmouth Welcome Center and virtually, via Zoom
Don Gorvett, on the front page of the Portsmouth Herald on March 24, 1991, working on his print Wentworth by the Sea
Thank you to the lenders and donors who made this exhibition possible
Martha Fuller Clark and Geoffrey E. Clark • Pauline C. Metcalf / The Felicia Fund, Inc. ☙❧ William & Arlene Brewster • Joseph MacDonald Family • New Hampshire State Council on the Arts ☙❧ Anthony Moore Painting Conservation • Jameson & Priscilla French ☙❧ Piscataqua Savings Bank • Cambridge Trust
“Twilight of American Impressionism: Alice Ruggles Sohier & Frederick A. Bosley”
Opening to the public on April 2 is our long-awaited exhibition on two unsung artists of the Boston School of painting. Alice Ruggles Sohier and Frederick A. Bosley were talented students of Edmund Tarbell (Bosley even took over Tarbell’s job after his retirement). While exceptional artists, these two painters faded into relative obscurity because their representational style was seen as passé with the advent of modernism. With the benefit of hindsight, we can now appreciate their talents fully, acknowledging that, while they may have been painting at the end of an era, great art is truly timeless.
Alice Ruggles Sohier, Portfolio, 1924. Oil on canvas; 30¼ x 25¼ in. Private collection.
Alice Ruggles Sohier, Spruce in Snow, ca. 1912. Oil on canvas; 8 x 10 in. Private collection.Frederick A. Bosley, The Gold Screen (or Lady in Black), 1924. Oil on canvas; 40¼ x 34¼ in. Private collection.Frederick A. Bosley, The Red Tree, 1927. Oil on canvas; 30 x 25 in., framed. Private collection.
Thank you to the lenders and donors who made this exhibition possible
Martha Fuller Clark and Geoffrey E. Clark • Pauline C. Metcalf / The Felicia Fund, Inc. ☙❧ William & Arlene Brewster • Joseph MacDonald Family New Hampshire State Council on the Arts ☙❧ Anthony Moore Painting Conservation • Jameson & Priscilla French ☙❧ Piscataqua Savings Bank • Cambridge Trust
Opening April 1st
The Discover Portsmouth Welcome Center will open to the public for the season on Thursday, April 1 at 10 am.
Please note that our Exhibitions will open the following day, Friday, April 2
March is Women’s History Month!
elebrate Women’s History Month with some inspirational women!
Featured this week is the late, great Ruth Bader Ginsburg! Available at our online shop:
