PROVINCETOWN, GLOUCESTER & MONHEGAN ISLAND SUMMER ART COLONIES

PROVINCETOWN, GLOUCESTER & MONHEGAN ISLAND SUMMER ART COLONIES

By Jeanette Hendler

Cape Cod extends seventy miles into the ocean and is surrounded by water on three sides. It formed as a result of glacial deposits and provided one of the most beautiful, natural settings for artists. At the tip of the Cape, Provincetown was the perfect place for artists to study art and paint or sculpt. In this artistic environment, art schools opened and art exhibition spaces were the natural offshoot. Artists organized their own artist-run galleries and independent entrepreneurs also opened galleries. The many exhibitions that followed, contributed to giving the participating artists a jumpstart in their careers.

As the art schools opened in Provincetown, they gave additional impetus for more artists to come to the area and study. The most important of these schools was the school of Charles Hawthorne and also the school of Hans Hofmann. Hawthorne was the founder of the Cape Cod
School of Art and it existed from 1899 until his death in 1930. Hans Hoffman established his Provincetown art school in 1935, after he had opened the New York School in 1933.

Many of Hofmann's students from the New York School followed him to Provincetown. Amongst his pupils, was one of his assistants, Gertrude (Abrams) Shibley, who studied and assisted at both schools. Shibley often stated in conversations and interviews that "Hofmann's ideas influenced her art for the rest of her painting life," as she evolved from figurative work into, abstraction. Her very long career produced hundreds of works, indicative of Hofmann's influences. The painting depicted here, was one of her transitional oils of that period, titled
"Bathers".

Text Box: Shibley, Gertrude. Bathers. Oil on canvas. 32 x 22in.

The Cape Ann area was only thirty miles northeast of Boston with Gloucester on the southern shore facing Massachusetts Bay. It was named for Gloucester in England and was as beautiful as the other summer art colonies. It also attracted the artists for many of the same reasons. The artists always spoke about their love of the entire Cape area and the images they painted included the many lighthouses, harbors, boats, beaches, the residents, many of whom were fisherman, and the towns with their plain wooden structures.

Berkman, Aaron. Cleaning Fish, Gloucester. 1930s. Oil on board. 16 x 20in.

Many artists would visit all of the various summer art colonies as they would be invited by their artist friends. Aaron Berkman came at the invitation of his lifelong painting colleague and good friend Milton Avery to spend time in Gloucester with him. They had originally met in Hartford, Conn., where they both attended the same art school and then they moved to New York City and also shared studio space there. Berkman's oil of Gloucester titled "Cleaning Fish, Gloucester" dated circa 1930’s, seen here, contains many of the elements that some of his available work of that period depicts. One sees not only the seven fishermen preparing their fish but the harbor with many boats and the town itself with the famous church in the background.

In addition to visiting Provincetown and Gloucester, many of the same artists painted on Monhegan Island, off the coast of Maine and it is still referred to as "the artists’ island". Berkman left papers and letters describing his relationship with Monhegan Island, a copy having
been given to the director of the Monhegan Museum for his files. Berkman stated that he spent most of his summers between 1939 and 1945, from the beginning of June through the end of September, painting the entire island and the surrounding areas. He was always one of the last
residents to leave and felt "having the island all to himself was one of the most wonderful experiences, where he could enjoy the place in all its isolated grandeur". He further wrote "these summers in retrospect are among my fondest memories, and the most fruitful creatively."

In the oils of Monhegan Island, many of the scenes include the famous landmarks. There is the village grocery store, Manana Island off the coast of Monhegan, Cathedral Woods, the popular Fish Beach and the local hotel, The Trailing Yew.

Aaron Berkman was the Director of the WPA Art Project and School at the 92nd Street Y in NYC and he introduced the summer art colonies to his painting pupils and friends and to the many art teachers who taught under him at the 92nd Street Y. Zero Mostel, who became a world renowned actor and who also taught at the WPA Art School under Berkman, spent many years painting along with Berkman on Monhegan. They were part of the larger group of painters there at the same time, that included Bogdanove, Fuller, Hantman, De Martini, Liberte and Winter, as Berkman stated in his letters. The oil seen here "Gossips, Monhegan" circa 1940's is a companion work to the oil purchased by the director of the Monhegan Museum. The oil purchased was on exhibition at the Museum and was chosen out of more than a dozen available works that Berkman did while on Monhegan Island.

Text Box: Berkman, Aaron. Gossips, Monhegan. 1940s. Oil on board. 19 ľ x 26in.

The Nassau County Museum also had Berkman in their recent exhibition and illustrated his painting in their catalogue for the exhibition. In addition, Constance Schwartz included Berkman in her recent article in the American Art Review magazine and also used his painting to illustrate her article of that era. Even though the most famous artists of the twentieth century such as Edward Hopper, Milton Avery, Stuart Davis and Andrew Wyeth painted in the summer art colonies, the under-recognized artists are vastly more affordable and just as talented. Many collectors are giving these other artists a new, fresh look, considering their high quality and are purchasing their paintings because they are affordable and beautifully painted. Museums, art critics and writers are recognizing their value and reevaluating their place in the Twentieth Century history of American Art.

WRITTEN BY JEANETTE HENDLER OF NEW YORK CITY, A WRITER, APPRAISER AND
DEALER IN FINE ART, SPECIALIZING IN ART OF THIS PERIOD. Copyright 2006 NYC.