John Haberle once painted a $10 bill with such verisimilitude that a critic of his day insisted it was real currency affixed to the canvas. That painting, “U.S.A (The Chicago Bill Picture), ca. 1889,” is one of some 20 paintings and drawings currently assembled as John Haberle: American Master of Illusion at the New Britain […]
portland
Yankee
Out of This World
For 20 years the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts, mounted annual exhibitions that took the pulse of new art in New England. In 2010, the museum is cutting back its eagerly awaited launching pad show to every two years, but the first DeCordova Biennial (January 23 to April 11) looks to be […]
The console of the Kotzschmar Organ looks lonely at the center of the stage in Portland City Hall’s Merrill Auditorium. The room swallows it. With an imposing facade of pipes towering before it and three tiers of seats looming behind, the console seems tiny and vulnerable–like a raft poised on the lip of a whale. […]
Magazine
New England Passenger Trains
Riding the rails is as thrilling today as it was way back when. Here are Yankee’s picks for New England’s best passenger trips (check Web sites for seasonal schedules): 1. After a 36-year absence, passenger rail service has returned to Maine. Amtrak’s Downeaster connects Boston and Portland along a 114-mile rail corridor. 800-872-7245; amtrakdowneaster.com 2. […]
The 2011 Biathlon World Cup comes to Aroostook County Maine starting Feb. 6. This is a huge sport in Europe and will be televised into millions, yes millions of European homes. Bill McKibben in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Yankee Magazine covered this story (below) on Aroostook county, Maine becoming the Biathlon World Cup capital […]
The audience for art is small. The readership for art writing is even smaller. But at the risk of driving what few faithful readers Just Looking has to another art blog, I am devoting this final posting of 2009 to an interesting dialogue that has been taking place between Boston Phoenix art critic Greg Cook […]
Maine is not only white with snow this time of year, racially it is also one of the whitest states in the nation with close to 98% of its residents identifying themselves as Caucasian. So any opportunity for exposure to cultural diversity is both welcome and needed in the Pine Tree State. The conjunction of […]
Traditionally, the visual arts have been object-oriented, involving the creation of paintings, drawings, prints, and sculpture. Increasingly over the last quarter of the 20th century and accelerating here in the early years of the 21st, the leading edge of creativity has become the art of installation, the creation of environments and the staging of events. […]
Yankee
My Christmas Wish List
In truth, there is nothing I want for nor anything I want for Christmas this year other than to have my three daughters home for the holidays, but a few days ago I found myself wandering around Portland on errands and stopped in at a couple of art galleries. I would have stopped at more, […]
Yankee
Everything Old Is New Again
Art and technology tend to have a love-hate relationship. Some artists embrace the latest technologies as new tools with which to create. Other artists react against new technologies, embracing instead traditional even antique mediums. Examples of both impulses can currently be seen in a pair of remote and unrelated exhibitions that nonetheless beg to be […]
Robert Solotaire passed away a year ago this month at a very youthful 78 years of age. Bob was a downtown kind of guy, a ubiquitous presence on the streets of Portland, particularly up in the West End where he ran a boarding house, wrote for the neighborhood newspaper, and painted the lively urban scenes […]
Design
Stocking Stuffers
1. A handcrafted wool stocking ($30) makes the stuff inside more special. Swell Company, Parsonsfield, ME. 207-793-2700; swellcompany.com 2. Inspiration sticks to the fridge if you’ve got a colorful, quirky magnet ($5.50). Curly Girl Design, Belmont, MA. 617-484-9502; curlygirldesign.com 3. Cocoa butter lip balms ($5) come in a tasty array of flavors. Badger Co., Gilsum, […]