Naked Women, Jamie Wyeth, and the King and I at Ogunquit (Part III)

Last week for several days I was up in Ogunquit, Maine staying with my sister Fran and our 90 year old mother.  On Wednesday, early in the morn, after a stroll on the Marginal Way, we went back to the Ogunquit Museum of American Art. Described by Francis Henry Taylor, the late director of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, "as the most beautiful little museum in the world," the OMAA is situated by the Atlantic overlooking historic Narrow Cove.

The previous evening we had attended a slide presentation by Steven May, an independent historian, writer and lecturer about Jamie Wyeth entitled, "His Own Man:The Art of Jamie Wyeth."  The slide lecture was extremely interesting...for many years I have collected all that has been written on Jamie, his father Andrew and his grandfather N.C.  Every year, on our way to Flye Point, we stop in Cushing, Maine to pay homage to "Christiana's World".  Either coming or going to Flye, we stop in Rockland to see the Wyeth Collection at Farnsworth Museum.  It seems I just can't enough of this creative, artistic family. 

Today Mom was a wee bit obstinate and refused to go to the Art Museum in her wheelchair.  "People will think I'm just plain old sitting in a wheelchair, I'll take my canes instead!  And that's that.  Don't argue with me....afterall how can I read the write-ups about each painting if I'm sitting down?"  She had a point,  so both Fran and I agreed she could "look young" using her two canes! 

Come join us as we stroll through the Barn Gallery in search of Jamie Wyeth.

 Mom viewing one of my favorites:

 "The Village Schoolteacher"

The school teacher was actually fired for being a model to Jamie. 

  "How small-minded some people can be!  Imagine being fired for just being a model!", said Mom in disgust.

"So what do you think, can I pose as a model for Jamie, Mom?

"Absolutely not!!!  Do you want to be fired?" 

James Browning Wyeth, son of Andrew, was born in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania in 1946.  His early years were spent in Chadds Ford and Mohegan Island, Maine. He was home-schooled by his father and his aunt.

 This is a portrait of Jamie's father:

    "Andrew Wyeth"
 

  "He's a rather stern looking fellow.  Look at that chin.  No wonder he home-schooled his kid, he wanted to control him", Mom commented.  I love listening to her commentaries as we peruse each piece.

Early recognition came as a result of his exceptional portraiture works, including a celebrated portrait of President John F. Kennedy.  Besides portraits, Jamie also paints landscape and animal paintings. 

"While the persuasive realism of Jamie's paintings may initially attract the attention of viewers, it is Wyeth's empathetic representation of subjects that make his work compelling.  Whether it is a human, an animal or a landscape, we seem to gain a deeper insight from seeing it through the all-encompassing eyes of Jamie Wyeth", May lectured the evening before.  "Like many great American painters such as Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper, the verisimilitude in Wyeth's work is greatly enhanced by a sense of stillness, isolation and an undercurrent of melancholy."

As I watched Mom view one of Jamie's portraits I couldn't help but think of "Christiana's World", one of Andrew Wyeth's masterpieces...a hobbled woman, bent over and leaning to the right on two canes. 

Venturing out of the Barn Gallery, we entered the Long Gallery.  Mom was struck by this beautiful nude.

"Oh Bob, that looks just like my Mother, you know she was a beautiful woman, not much of a Mother you know, but she was beautiful." 

 "Did she have buns like that?" Fran inquired.

Excerberated Mom looked at both us and said, "How would I know, I never saw her naked.  I mean the look on her face...look at it...isn't she beautiful? Get a closer picture Bob, I just want her face and perhaps a little bit of her shoulders and maybe we can frame it."

And so like a dutiful daughter I took one more picture. 

Mom had to smile when she saw a rather old gentleman dressed in red sketching the beautiful lady, "Just like a man, likes looking at naked women!" 

In the backround is a print by Jacob Lawrence, one of the first African American artist to be represented by a major New York commercial gallery.

 The Museum also has a rather large display of sculptures both in the museum and on the acres of landscaped grounds. 

"Bird Afloat" by Frances Lamout. 

From the main gallery, one can look directly through the glass wall to the dramatic coast, the ocean, and the far horizon.  Let's go through the glass doors and take a peek outside:

"Mother and Daughter" 

 "Lovers entwined"

Love the curvature of the spine.

And from a different angle: 

Though I find looking at the human body spiritual....let's add a little bit of religion: 

"St Francis Feeding the Birds"

Leaving the Museum, we rode over to Perkin's Cove to have lunch and then all seven of us girls went to the Ogunquit Playhouse to see the matinee performance of the "King and I".  Mom just loved the lavish set, the costumes and the storyline.  Throughout the show, she sang along with the lead singer...knowing fully well the lyrics to "Getting to Know You" and "Shall We Dance"!  Long term memory must of kicked in!!!

All in all, we had a lovely full day of culture in Ogunquit....it's not ALL about the beach when you go there!