A Christmas Card From Two Early Provincetown Artists

Artists Ada Gilmore and Mildred "Dolly" McMillen were among the Provincetown Printers, early 1900s.

This 1918 Christmas card depicts Provincetown artists Ada Gilmore and Mildred (Dolly) McMillen relaxing by the wood stove with their cat. Each had been in Paris studying art, and in 1914 or 1915 they moved to Provincetown together. They were among the handful of artists who developed a unique, new printmaking technique here in 1915 which became known as the Provincetown print.
It is also called a white line woodblock or woodcut print, where the artist cuts a design into a flat piece of wood using grooves to separate shapes and blocks of color. Dolly McMillen found that she still preferred working only with black ink, so that's what she pursued. The card above is her design. Now, was PICO the name of the cat, or the cottage they were living in, or some sort of Provincetown organization, or something else altogether? And why in all caps? Guesses, anyone? Please comment below.
As the new year rolls around I want to feature some of the gorgeous white line prints I've dug up recently. In the meantime, you can click on the following link, or just google white line woodblock prints to find dozens of fine examples, many of them portraying Provincetown scenes or characters. I look forward to bringing you some of my favorites.
Merry Christmas, and happy holidays to all!
                                          TheYearRounder

See Hawthorne's Artwork at Town Hall

Charles W. Hawthorne's painting Crew of the Philomina Manta

The painter Charles W. Hawthorne was pretty much the founder of the early art movement in Provincetown, establishing the Cape Cod School of Art here in 1899.
Most of Hawthorne's works that are probably familiar to the public seem to be those done in darker shades, depicting hard-working fishermen engaged in their daily activities, or often young boys going through their rights of passage into that same world.
Probably the best known of all of these paintings is found in the heart of Provincetown, at Town Hall. The Crew of the Philomina Manta hangs at the far end of the hallway that leads between the town offices, toward the Judge Welsh Room. Stop in and notice the perceptive way the artist gets the feelings of these men onto the canvas. The expressions on their faces, and Hawthorne's attention to detail, are remarkable.

Piano Lessen by Charles W. Hawthorne

I also recently found a number of his paintings of women engaged in more domestic pursuits like sewing, or looking after the children, or giving music lessons, but without seeming sexist or stereotyped. He portrayed people of all sorts, caught in moments of their daily routines, engaged in the activities that ran the lives of Provincetown residents in the early 1900s.
Here's a link to 24 Hawthorne Paintings I found on an absolutely amazing blog called It's About Time, where I began to discover paintings that portrayed women and children in the daily moments of their lives (not just the men) with a surprising number of wives, mothers, daughters, and young boys, wielding buckets of fish. It seemed that everyone here in the early twentieth century was involved in the industry that supported this little village and fed it as well, with fish as prominent characters in so many of Hawthorne's paintings.

Hawthorne's painting The Fishwife

In upcoming posts I'll bring you more of the remarkable character studies that are Hawthorne's works. I've unearthed dozens that I had never seen before, and I'll be sharing them with you on these pages. Meanwhile, stop by Town Hall and find the Hawthornes that grace the main hallway there, and enjoy the work of one of America's foremost artists and teachers.

Artists Are Found Throughout Provincetown, And You Can Join Them

A painter captures the light on a Commercial Street home on the harbor.

Artists with their easels, brushes, palette knives or sketchbooks can be found all over Provincetown streets, out in the dunes and forests, or anywhere at all, really.
You'll find them in tiny alleyways capturing the perfect light on the edge of the harbor, or on a hill looking out over the rooftops of the neighborhood below. They're amongst the trees at the visitor center painting the majestic Pilgrim Monument on the distant hillside.
It isn't unusual at all to see artists working outdoors in, even in the dead of winter. We are the oldest continuous artist colony in the nation.
It all started in 1899 when the painter Charles Webster Hawthorne founded his Cape Cod School of Art, right here in Provincetown, of course. Within several years there were half-a-dozen bustling art schools here, and these days we have well over 80 art galleries, scattered all throughout the town.

Even if you've never held a paintbrush, by the end of the day you can
create a finished painting of the historic Red Inn and its glorious garden.

In Provincetown you can take a series of classes in drawing, sculpting, or in painting with oils or watercolors. You can also spend just a morning, painting in the garden of the Red Inn, even if you're an absolute beginner.
There's an artist ready to help and encourage you, and everything you'll need is supplied.
Or maybe you're an old hand at painting, but have come to town without your easel, paints, canvas and brushes. You'll find them available at this one-day art class, which is ongoing throughout the summer. And what better topic for your masterpiece than the lovely, historic Red Inn, this summer celebrating their hundredth anniversary as an inn. Spend a day in their lovely garden, and give your soul the glow that comes with the awakening of your creative side.

PTown's Public Art, Opus 1

In 1997, Provincetown artist, writer and humorist Jackson Lambert painted this wonderful mural
on an ugly little cinder block building on Freeman Street, behind the old public library.

Jackson Lambert's 1997 mosaic mural on Freeman Street includes a self-portrait of the artist at work on 
a painting of the very same mural, so he's a character in the mural, painting a canvas of the mural, while 
he is actually painting the mural, which stretches all around the building. Stop by and enjoy this clever bit of humor in a remarkable piece of public art.

Ilona Shines in 'Advanced Style'

Ilona Royce Smithkin, a Provincetown treasure, appears in Advanced Style, a delightful documentary
about fashion, style and spirit among women who are turning heads even as they are turning older.

Provincetown's own Ilona Royce Smithkin, at the age of 94, charms the audience as she shares the screen with a number of other stunning women of a certain age, each creating their own fabulous look and sense of style, despite their advancing years. This upbeat documentary is the feature film debut of Lina Plioplyte, who one day discovered the blog Advanced Style by fashion enthusiast Ari Seth Cohen, and she became intrigued by the attitudes of the women she found in Cohen's photographs. The film debuted this past September and was screened in PTown several times during Women's Week.
Cohen's blog had taken shape when he began noticing stylishly dressed older women on the streets of New York City, and began photographing their spirited use of colors, hats, shapes and all sorts of accessories, each one creating an absolutely unique style for herself. He wanted to share his photos and show the individuality and self-confidence these women were exhibiting as they dressed exactly as they pleased, regardless of anyone else's opinions, and as he asked permission to take their photos, friendships began to form with a number of these very independent doyennes of style.
One of these women is Ilona, who divides her time between her Provincetown and New York apartments, spending her summers swimming in Provincetown Harbor and enjoying the view and the sea breeze from the balcony of her third floor, water front Commercial Street apartment in the East End, in the heart of Provincetown's Gallery District. Ilona's distinctive paintings and drawings can be found in the Karilon Gallery, at 441 Commercial Street, on her website Ilona and Friends, in the permanent collection of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, and in a number of important private collections. Her work has included landscapes, nudes, still lifes, and portraits of Tennessee Williams, Ayn Rand and a host of other famous subjects.
A renowned artist, teacher, and in the last few years, a chanteuse, Ilona now performs in Eyelash Cabaret, the wildly popular annual PAAM fundraiser, sharing the stage with singer, songwriter and "band in a body" musician Zoe Lewis, who met Ilona many years ago, and wrote a song about her unique eyelashes.
Click this link to find "90 Is The New 40," a Huffington Post article on Ilona written by Ari Cohen in 2011, as Ilona was turning 90, and watch the four-minute video you'll find there. If you don't already know Ilona, you'll fall in love with her on the spot. You'll find out the story behind those eyelashes, too. See more of Ilona, and other strong, stylish women, when you watch Advanced Style, streaming on Netflix, and watch for the DVD to be released at a future date.

An Afternoon at Captain Jack's Wharf

An artist paints the scene at Captain Jack's Wharf as kayakers prepare
for the launch into Provincetown Harbor from this popular Town Landing. 

Town Landings are found all along PTown's Commercial Street, providing public access to the beach on the edge of Provincetown Harbor. This spot is among the most popular of them all, at Captain Jack's Wharf in the West End of town.
Folks are often found here sunbathing or swimming on a summer's day, or picnicking at the edge of the water, or launching a kayak or raft and paddling out to Long Point. The kayaks of all the nearby neighbors are piled against the hedge, and on this day I found a couple of men dragging their little craft out of the heap and loading their gear into the hull, getting ready for an afternoon getaway into the harbor.
Meanwhile, a woman is painting one of PTown's most famous waterfront scenes. For years artists and photographers have been capturing a bit of the history of our early fishing fleet as well as that of one of our most illustrious summer visitors, who turned out to be one of the nations most well-known writers.
This little string of old fishing shacks and trap sheds has been a popular accommodation for visitors for years, operating these days as small condominiums rented out over the summer. One of these shacks was also rented long ago to Tennesse Williams, who spent many of the summers of the 1940s in Provincetown.
Although many disagree on exactly which of Williams' plays might have been written at various spots he occupied over those summers, we know that several parts of The Glass Menagerie, one of his best-known plays, were written, rewritten, and re-rewritten over a few of those summers, and many say that the play was finally finished during the summer he spent at Captain Jack's Wharf.

Now for the High Tides...

This tide easily exceeds the average high tide line, and it's still rolling in.

My last post showed an extremely low tide that allowed folks to walk across the tidal flats all the way out to the spit of sand that becomes Long Point. This photo shows the voluminous high tide the next afternoon, and there were more to follow.
In fact, from now through September, we're likely to have many more  of these tremendous high tides during the full moon as it continues to orbit 31,000 miles closer to the earth than at any other time of the year. I've studied up a bit on all this moon and tide stuff in the last couple of days…
It seems that the moon orbits the earth in a kind of ellipse rather than a perfect circle, with the earth situated slightly off center, just a bit closer to one side of that giant oval shape the moon makes as it travels around us. That means that the moon is actually orbiting closer to the earth from July through September than it does at any other time of the year. It's called the perigee, when the moon is in the part of its orbit that brings it closest to the earth. That's why the moon looks so much larger right now than it does during the winter, when it's at its farthest from the earth, during its apogee phase.
I made it to the Far West End of Provincetown Harbor for this photo a bit before the real peak of the high tide this day, so the water actually rose a bit higher than shown in this photo. Read my June 16th, 2012 blog about hiking the breakwater to the Wood End Light, where you'll find links to a tide chart and a bit of information about the lighthouse, as well as the American Lighthouse Foundation. Unfortunately, the VISA card program cited there, benefitting the ALF, has ended, so that link is no longer valid. But you'll find info on getting to the Far West End and tips to keep you safe on your hike, as this trip can be a little tricky in spots, and may be rather strenuous for most of us.
One day soon I'll write about hiking out to the Long Point Light, at the very tip of Cape Cod. After all, I can't write about this area every day (although I actually could write about it every day, for at least two weeks or more…)
Enjoy your hike, and please, be careful. Or you could simply sit on the benches and watch the water change colors all afternoon, or watch the artists who flock to this spot nearly every summer day to paint the wetlands before they disappear beneath the high tides.

Provincetown History - Cookie's Tap

Cookie's Bar, 18" X 24" oil on panel, 1948, by Provincetown artist Charles Kaeselau.

I was having lunch at Provincetown's marvelous Soup Kitchen one blustery day last winter, enjoying a great meal and the splendid company of artists, historians, writers, actors, and other assorted Townies at my table. Each of us had been in Provincetown at least 25 years, many of us much longer, and stories of all sorts would pour out as various topics came up. One of those topics on that particular day was Cookie's Tap, a venerable Provincetown institution that got its start in 1927 as a neighborhood bar for Fishermen in the West End, at 133 Commercial Street.
In 1941 owner Frank "Friday" Cook tore down the aging structure and had Joseph Morris construct a new building with upscale touches like maple floors, leading local newspaper The Advocate to publish an article about this swanky new bar in their March 13th issue of that year. In the 1990s this neighborhood landmark housed David Gallerani's much-loved Italian restaurant. Most recently, Lorraine's restaurant had served a very popular menu of upscale Mexican recipes in this spot, and had held a weekly Trivia Night during the winter months, hearkening back to the days when this little joint was a real gathering place. We're hoping Lorraine Najar will cook for us again one day, somewhere in town, having sold the property last summer. We're eager, too, to see what the new owners will come up with for the next incarnation of this building.
As Cookie's Tap evolved into Cookie's Restaurant over the years, they became known for their Portuguese specialties, of course. A favorite meal there was the Vovo Cabral, made with cheese layered over flounder baked in tomatoes and wine. Friday's wife, Clara Cabral Cook, became known for her wonderful kale soup, as well, and worked in the place she loved into the 1980s, well into her own 80s, according to David W. Dunlap on his terrific website/blog/history archive Building Provincetown. Visit his site and read more about 133 Commercial Street and its occupants over the years, and enjoy photographs and other historic tidbits there as well.

Friday and Clara's sons began working at Cookie's in the middle 1940s, with Wilbur joining his folks in 1944, followed by Joe in 1946, after Friday had passed away. Various children of the two brothers also worked at Cookie's over the years, including Tina Cook Wheeler, who assembled a book of Cookie's recipes a couple of years ago. A nephew, Ralph Cook, Jr., recalls earning the tidy sum of $5 washing dishes there as a boy, when he was twelve years old.

This ad appeared in The Advocate in 1948,
the same year the painting above was done.

That afternoon at the Soup Kitchen the topic of hurricanes, nor'easters and other brutal storms that roll through Provincetown came up, and my tablemates talked about all the fishermen and others who gathered at Cookie's Tap to ride out these storms together, since no one would be going to work that day. No one, except, of course, the Cooks, who would always open up the bar when there was a big storm brewing, and put a pot of something or other on the stove to feed the souls who would inevitably turn up over the course of the day. Folks passed the time playing cards or checkers, telling stories, eating a little something, and, of course, having a few drinks, along with a few laughs, as the storms raged outside. Many a terrible gale was softened a bit by the pleasant camaraderie of friends who gathered to bolster their spirits and pass the time, waiting out the treacheries of Mother Nature together.

Provincetown native Mary-Jo Avellar worked at Cookie's Tap, and in her Provincetown Portuguese Cookbook, she tells of rabbits or other game the Cook brothers would bring in after an occasional early morning hunt, and a big pot of stew or a fricassee would be made for customers to enjoy "on the house" while having a drink or two.
The painting at the top of this page seems to have captured the natures of some of the "characters" who were frequent customers of this storied Provincetown hangout. It was painted in 1948 by Kare (Charles) Anton Kaeselau (say Kay-slo,) born in 1889, in Stockholm, Sweden. Kaeselau was a painter, lithographer and teacher who had studied in Chicago, Paris, London, and with Charles W. Hawthorne in Provincetown.
He worked here a good bit in the 20s and 30s, and apparently later on as well. He was a member of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum and an exhibitor there, working in oils, watercolors and wood block prints, and is among the artists whose work is found in PAAM's permanent collection, though even his family doesn't know much about him or his work. But it's evident that he spent some time himself enjoying the hospitality at Cookie's.

The New York Times Called Him "The Johnny Appleseed of Environmental Art"

Roy Staab's work can be found near the breakwater in the West End, while it lasts.

A number of years ago I was strolling in the West End, and as I walked a little closer to the breakwater I saw that someone had stabbed long reeds into the tidal flats and then woven more reeds between them, forming a sort of free-standing sculpture of geometric shapes that seemed to float in the air a foot above the water. I watched as the tides rolled in and out over the next few days, variously exposing and then hiding this amazing creation as the water level rose above, and then dropped below, half-tide. After several days this sculpture began to break up a bit with each new tide, and eventually it disappeared altogether. A couple of years later another amazing sculpture appeared in this same spot and then slowly disintegrated with the tides, and over the years I have seen several of them, each one a different design.

For years i've been wondering who was coming into town and creating this amazing art in the open, at the edge of the wetlands. A few days ago I happened onto another one, freshly completed, and finally met environmental artist Roy Staab. He has traveled the world creating this large, open-air, public art in tidal flats, river basins and marshlands from one edge of the world to the other, using natural materials he finds and gathers in each area he chooses for the creation of his art.

Timing is important in seeing Roy's work at its most dynamic. Optimum enjoyment of his amazing sculptures can be had when the water level is low, but not all the way out at low tide. Having a little water covering the base of the vertical reeds, especially when the water is still, along with the sun being out, gives the best conditions for enjoying the work as the reflection of the shapes rests on calm waters. I was having trouble getting all these factors working together in the short time I have available for myself in the summer months, and I wanted to share this treasure with my readers, so Roy was kind enough to send me the photo above. The rosy, golden color on the loops of the horizontal reeds seem to be the deep colors you will only find when the sun is very close to the earth, near the time of sunrise or sunset.

Roy Staab at work on one of his giant reed sculptures.

Once I knew his name, I could look up Roy Staab's website, and there I found the image above in the form of a You Tube video of this still image with Will Walkers article from the 2012 Provincetown Arts magazine scrolling over the screen to a somewhat haunting bit of music. Here's a link to this Meandering Moment.
Roy created a sculpture in the Pamet while he was here as well. He left yesterday for Saunders Farm in Garrison, New York, where he'll be creating a work for the local Collaborative Concepts group. Roy says "Life is special and always fleeting and my art is as well." Visit the West End as soon as you can and reflect on this splendid, timeless bit of environmental art. It may not last much longer.

This Vintage Postcard Shows the Pilgrim Monument in an Unusual Light

Provincetown's Pilgrim Monument, shown in the moonlight
in this vintage post card, is now open daily for the 2013 season

The Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum (PMPM,) once again welcomes visitors as their 2013 season gets under way with an exciting new exhibit in the East Gallery. A private collection of Eastern Rig Dragger boat models, built in 1/24 scale by late Truro resident Alfred J. Silva, Sr., is now on display. Born in Provincetown, Mr. Silva knew the local fishing fleet intimately, building tremendous detail into his models of boats that sailed in the Provincetown fleet from around 1950 to 1972.
Also featured are works of art by Provincetown artists Sal Del Deo, born 1928; Nancy Whorf, 1930 - 2009; and Arthur Cohen, 1928 - 2012. You'll find more on Arthur Cohen in the column of artists running down the right-hand edge of this page.
For a spectacular view for miles in all directions, you can climb to the top of the Pilgrim Monument, the tallest all-granite structure in the country, at 252 1/2 feet tall. It is perched on a hill that stands 90 feet above the harbor as well, so the view is superb. This is one of the great Photo Ops of Provincetown, so remember to take your camera with you, and a sweater for the breeze. Even if you don'y want to climb the monument, which takes the average person about ten minutes, from the lovely grounds at the base of the monument you'll have a splendid view of the harbor.
The museum at the base of the monument is well worth a visit as well. Learn about the Pilgrims first landing, the early theater days of Eugene O'Neill, Tennessee Williams and others, important artists, the whaling and shipwreck days and much, much more. The gift shop there has some nice souvenirs of your visit and a wonderful variety of books about Provincetown history and lore.
At this time of the year PMPM is open from 9 AM to 5 PM, with their last admission for the day at 4:30 PM. The hours will be extended to 7 PM from Memorial Day to Labor Day, with last admissions at 6:30 PM. You'll find it in the center of town, at the top of High Pole Hill. You can walk up the hill, or there is paid parking available on the grounds, as well as wheel chair access. Enjoy your visit.

Wintertime Activities Bring Townies and Visitors Out for a Fun Off-season Evening

There are a number of things to do in the evenings this week, and besides the great Friday fish fries, which I'll elaborate upon in an upcoming post, I can easily think of 5 things worth going out for in the next three evenings. Let's start with:
Tonight, Wednesday, March 13...

Provincetown Theater brings its popular annual Winter
Reading Series to PTown audiences through March 27th.

Playwright John Greiner-Ferris says that he "... wrote Turtles for so many reasons. Family and identity, two themes that are prominent in Turtles, mean a lot to me. Family isn't the traditional family anymore, mine isn't, and I wrote what family is like for me." Actors on stage tonight at the Provincetown Theater will read Turtles as part of their 2013 Winter Reading Series, which has just three more readings to go before the end of this very popular annual string of play readings, featuring a different author and subject matter each week. A wide variety of plays and works in progress are read for the public in this PTown winter tradition which offers us all a chance to get out of the house, socialize a bit with like-minded folks (or at least other theater enthusiasts) and support playwrights with a broad range of viewpoints and backgrounds. The reading will begin at 7:30 PM. Admission is a suggested donation of $5.

The Squealing Pig has reopened for 2013.

Also tonight, the Squealing Pig has their weekly Trivia Night, with the contest beginning at 8 PM. The Pig closed for several weeks, as it does every winter, allowing a little break for the staff and a chance to spruce up the place a bit as well. A new coat of paint really sets off the large black-and-white photos which were hung in the dining room a while back, giving a classy feel to this cozy little neighborhood pub.
Take advantage of the wintertime opportunity to sample seasonal dishes that you won't find here in the summer, like the Shepherd's Pie, a hearty lamb stew made with root vegetables and topped with their homemade mashed potatoes. Then team up for a fun night of trivia.

Hilde Oleson celebrates her 90th birthday by reading
at Provincetown's monthly Writers Voice Cafe.

Also tonight, the audience at the Writers Voice Cafe will join in the celebration of Hilde Oleson's 90th birthday. She will be tonight's featured reader, so this promises to be a wonderful, entertaining evening, upstairs at Napi's, with Hilde taking the "stage" at 7 PM. There's no admission fee, but a small contribution would be welcome when they "pass the hat" sometime during the evening. As always, the featured performer will be followed by an open mic session for anyone who wants to read anything they'd like. Any type of writing will be embraced by an enthusiastic, supportive audience. See my February 13th post about the Writers Voice Cafe, which, for a number of years now, has been offering a place for local writers, whatever their style or genre might be, to get feedback from the public as well as from other writers. Get out of the house and enjoy a great evening.

Lorraine's offers dinner Friday through Sunday, and their
Tavern Menu along with Trivia Night on Thursdays

Thursday, March 14th...
It's Trivia Night at Lorraine's every Thursday in the off-season, beginning at 7 PM. Drinks are available, of course, along with a tavern menu. The good-natured rivalry between trivia teams has been going on for a number of winters now, bringing folks out to watch or to participate in this ongoing, weekly contest where everyone is welcome, and all have fun. Categories can cover a wide range of topics, and you'll no doubt learn a thing or two during the evening. Put your own knowledge of arcane information to the test by joining a team of competitors. Lorraine's is open Thursday through Saturday at 5:30 PM.

Friday, March 15th...

Painter Alexei Biryukoff shows his controversial
work at PTown's new Patty DeLuca Gallery

Patty DeLuca has moved her art gallery to 432 Commercial Street, in the heart of Provincetown's gallery district in the East End. A new show of works by Alexei Biryukoff, banned in Russia because of his very explicit style often depicting male nudes, begins Friday and runs through April 5th. Born in Kyrgyzstan, he moved to Russia as a young man, launching his first solo art show in his early twenties. Biryukoff says that his approach to his artwork changed dramatically with his experience in the United Kingdom in 2002.
In 2008 ArtsLink, NYC sponsored his Art Residency at Provincetown's Fine Arts Work Center, where he exhibited a dozen paintings he created there. His work is also in the collection of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, as well as important collections in New York and Liverpool, and in private collections in nearly a dozen countries. You can meet the artist Friday night at an opening reception for his work, from 7 till 10 PM at the Patty DeLuca Gallery, which, in its new location, continues to offer some of the most exciting artwork to be found on American shores.

PAAM Marks 50th Anniversary of Motherwell's "Beside the Sea" Series with Show of Rare Works

It was 50 years ago, in the summer of 1962, that Abstract Expressionist painter Robert Motherwell began spending his summers in Provincetown. He was inspired by what he saw around him that summer while he was living in this little spit of sand at the tip of Cape Cod. The power of the waves crashing onto the shoreline made an impression on him, and from his Commercial Street studio in Provincetown he begin his "Beside the Sea" series, which eventually numbered 64 paintings in total.

With all his strength he splattered oil paint on rag paper, mimicking the waves pounding against the bulkhead in front of his studio. When several sheets of this heavy paper split under the force of his arm, Motherwell began using a heavier paper that had been specially reinforced.

Motherwell established the Dedalus Foundation to foster the ideas of the Modernist movement and to increase public awareness and understanding of modern art. He is considered by many to be the best of the Abstract Expressionist painters, with works in major collections and galleries around the world. Click the following link to see over 300 works by Robert Motherwell.

Provincetown Art Association and Museum is mounting an exciting exhibition of rare works created in the artist’s Provincetown studio from its inception that summer in 1962 until his death here in 1991. Robert Motherwell: Beside the Sea, curated by Lise Motherwell and Dan Rinalli, runs through September 30th, with an opening reception tonight, July 20th, from 8 until 10 PM. PAAM will be closed to the public this evening from 6 till 8 PM for a private event.

Robert Motherwell was also among the founders of the Long Point Gallery in 1977, and some of his work there can be seen at PAAM through September 2nd, along with the works of many other important artists from the legendary Long Point Gallery, in a show entitled Long Point: An Artist's Place, curated by Mary E. Abell, Ph.D.

PAAM is located at 460 Commercial Street, open daily in season, with hours varying by day and season. Phone 508 487-1750 or check their website at www.paam.org to keep up with all the events at PAAM.  Admission is $7 with free admission on Friday evenings. PAAM members and children 12 and under are always admitted free of charge.

PTown Artists Paint Outdoors Thanks to Charles W. Hawthorne

It is not unusual at all here in Provincetown to see an artist working outdoors, even in the dead of winter. We are the oldest continuous artist colony in the nation, now in our 113th year as an ongoing "colony" of artists, if you will. It was 1899 when the Painter Charles W. Hawthorne founded the Cape Cod School of Art, of course, right here in Provincetown, and within several years there were about half-a-dozen bustling art schools here. Hawthorne established a studio on Miller Hill Road where he taught theories of light and its effects on color. He gave instruction to students outdoors near the harbor in the summers and spent his winters in Paris and New York.

Hawthorne was also a founding member of the Cape Cod School of Art in 1914. On August 27th, 1916, there appeared a front-page story in the  Boston Globe titled "Biggest Art Colony in the World in Provincetown." Norman Rockwell spent a summer studying with Hawthorne at the Art Students League in New York.
Hawthorne taught his students to paint en plain air, a French phrase meaning "in the open air." In the late 1800s the French figured out how to put paint in tubes that could be taken outdoors, allowing artists to move out of their studios and to paint in natural light. Before that time, paints were mixed in the studio, and artists worked only indoors. Hawthorne was seen as something of a revolutionary when he arrived here in 1899 and began teaching his students this new way of painting in the outdoors.
The art collection at Provincetown Town Hall includes the painting above, titled "Fish Cleaners." Visit Town Hall, at 260 Commercial Street, to see this painting for yourself.

Click to see other works of Charles W. Hawthorne.