Edgar Degas works on paper on view this winter at the Portland Museum of Art

PORTLAND, ME.- This winter, the Portland Museum of Art will present the exhibition Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist, on view February 23 through May 27, 2012, which will feature compelling works from a private collection that have never been exhibited together publicly. Comprised of more than 100 drawings, prints, pastels, and photographs as well as several sculptures, Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist will provide an insightful exploration into the oeuvre of one of the most skilled and complex artists in history, and grant [...]

Works by Rackstraw Downes on View this Winter at the Portland Museum of Art

PORTLAND, ME.- This winter, the Portland Museum of Art will feature the first major survey of paintings by contemporary artist Rackstraw Downes. Rackstraw Downes: Onsite Paintings, 1972-2008, on view December 16, 2010 through March 20, 2011, will feature more than 30 major works ranging from Downes’ earliest en plein air paintings executed in Maine to his later signature views of the New York City skyline and the vast panoramas near his home in Presidio, Texas. Organized by the Parrish Art [...]

Portland Museum of Art Receives Major Gift

PORTLAND, ME.- The Portland Museum of Art announced that it has received a major gift of approximately $3 million from the family of Emily Eaton Moore, a trustee and longtime supporter of the Museum, who passed away in March. One of the largest gifts made to the Museum in the last 10 years, this gift will support the Museum’s mission and vision. “We are overwhelmed by the generosity of this gift from Emily Moore and her family,” said former Museum [...]

Winslow Homer Exhibition this Summer at the Portland Museum of Art

PORTLAND, ME.- This summer the Portland Museum of Art will present Winslow Homer and the Poetics of Place, on view June 5 through September 6, 2010. In honor of the centennial of Homer’s death in September, this exhibition will showcase 20 works from the Museum’s collection of Homer watercolors and oils on canvas. Based upon the extraordinary gift of 17 works by Charles Shipman Payson to the Museum in 1976, the exhibition will feature paintings understood to be national treasures, [...]

Exhibition of Prints by German Expressionist Max Beckmann Announced at the Portland Museum of Art

PORTLAND, ME.- This spring, the Portland Museum of Art will feature an exhibition of the graphic work of Max Beckmann, one of the most significant German artists of the modern era. Modernism and Masquerade: Max Beckmann (1884-1950), on view March 13 through May 23, 2010, will present approximately 40 prints from the Museum’s permanent collection and private collections. Focusing predominantly on Beckmann’s portraits, this exhibition will provide important insights into the artist whose powerful approach to the human condition continues [...]

Portland Museum of Art Breaks Attendance Record

PORTLAND< ME.- The Portland Museum of Art finished 2009 with the second-highest attendance in Museum history and the highest attendance in a decade. With 161,000 visitors, the Museum had an increase of 11,000 visitors over the previous year. The highest attendance record was set in 2000 with 188,000 visitors with the success of two exhibitions by legendary artists Ansel Adams and N. C. Wyeth. The Museum’s 2009 success was due to the extremely popular exhibition Backstage Pass: Rock & Roll [...]

New Acquisitions 2009 on View at the Portland Museum of Art

PORTLAND, ME.- This winter’s new acquisition exhibition is devoted to black-and-white photography, one of the strengths of the Portland Museum of Art’s growing collection. New Acquisitions 2009: In Black and White, on view January 9 through February 21, 2010 will feature 37 photographs, ranging from romanticized scenes of Maine agrarian life in the early 20th century by Chansonetta Emmons, to mid-century documents by photojournalist Verner Reed and contemporary images of an elderly Mainer by Jon Edwards. Following the exhibition of [...]