Courthouse Gallery Fine Art represents contemporary painting, sculpture, and photography by Maine artists, as well as several estates including the Emily and William Muir estate. The gallery is housed in Ellsworth's historic courthouse, which was built in 1834 and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. In 2006, owners Karin and Michael Wilkes turned the building into a premier gallery space, restoring the original hardwood floors and tin ceilings to their former grandeur. A sculpture park occupies the sweeping lawn out front.
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Three Exhibits Opening August 29
Three Exhibits open at Courthouse Gallery Fine Art on August 29 and run through September 25, 2010.
Reception: August 29 4-6pm
Gallery Talk: September 12, 4pm
August 29 - September 25, 2010
Abstract Expressionism
Three Maine Artists
Stephen Pace, Harold Garde, George Wardlaw
Gallery Talk
with Critic and Art Historian Martica Sawin and Artist Harold Garde
Sunday September 12, 4pm
Catalog Available for Download (5.8MB PDF) or purchase. Call 207-667-6611
Three Maine artists who studied art on the GI Bill began their careers painting abstracts in the 1950s and 1960s.
Stephen Pace
In the 1953 Whitney Annual Exhibition of Sculpture and Works on Paper, his [Pace] large watercolor was prominently hung between works by Kline and Hofmann and was singled out for enthusiastic comment in Art News by Henry McBride, who referred to the "elegant outpouring" of his paint.
-Martica Sawin, Author, Stephen Pace
George Wardlaw
Educated in the late forties and early fifties, Wardlaw, was profoundly influenced by abstract expressionism. His aesthetic persuasions at that time were, in great part, formed by that particular movement and especially two artists with whom he studied in the early fifties-David Smith and Jack Tworkov.
-Hugh Davies, Director, Museum Contemporary Art San Diego
Harold Garde
Garde has been a major influence on abstract expressionist art for decades; his unique style continues to grow and engage viewers nationwide.
-Ann Burt, Director, Ormond Memorial Art Museum, Florida
August 29 - September 25, 2010
Emily Muir
Emily Paints the West Indies
Catalog Available for Download (2.1MB PDF) or purchase. Call 207-667-6611
Like Winslow Homer, John Whorf and other artists who spent time in the islands, Muir was especially drawn to everyday scenes. In her paintings, villagers prepare and cook food or gather in a seaside grove of palm trees. -Carl Little
August 29 - September 25, 2010
William Moise: A Retrospective
Catalog Available for Download (2.6MB PDF) or purchase. Call 207-667-6611
As Bill goes to work, he starts to sing and hum to himself. First he paints the trees by painting the space around them. He begins with patches of light blue between the trees, then the dark blue shadows..." -Fritz Lyons, Maine Life, 1980
