February e-bulletin

A detail of an oil painting of a floral bouquet with roses

The new semester is off and rolling. We are thrilled to see faculty, students, and visitors back in the galleries. Since the holiday break, the team at the BCMA has been busy installing Irreplaceable You: Personhood and Dignity in Art, 1980s to Now (now on view until June 1st) and Poetic Truths: Hawthorne, Longfellow, and American Visual Culture, 1840-1880, which opens on February 6 and remains up until July 20th. Also on view are the recently unveiled student-curated From Daughters to Mothers: A Study of Reproductive Labor (until March 2nd) and Art, Ecology, and the Resilience of a Maine Island: The Monhegan Wildlands (until June 1st), which art critic Carl Little recently described in Art New England as a “ground-breaking … landmark exhibition.” We invite you to come enjoy each of these exciting installations!

In this issue, you will find articles about the Museum’s new offerings, as well as an essay about the recently conserved portrait of Samuel Fessenden, Bowdoin Class of 1861, who gave his life for the cause of freedom during the American Civil War, and Dorothea Lange’s Meeting of the Mothers’ Club (1938), which explores, in honor of Valentine’s Day, the expression of love through community connection.

See you at the Museum!

Anne Collins Goodyear & Frank H. Goodyear III

Co-Directors, Bowdoin College Museum of Art

exhibitions

Detail of a portrait photograph of a figure with dark skin against a dark background wearing a white lattice crown

Now Open

Irreplaceable You: Personhood and Dignity in Art, 1980s to Now

This exhibition touches on subjects from the recent and not-so-recent past, looking at how art helps build our capacity for empathy when our worldviews are often shaped by the twenty-four-hour news cycle and the Internet.

A photograph of an ornate earthenware jug inscribed with the words of a poem

Opening Soon

Poetic Truths: Hawthorne, Longfellow, and American Visual Culture, 1840-1880

This exhibition explores how Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, members of the Bowdoin Class of 1825, influenced American visual culture.

spotlight

An oil painting depicts a literary scene of colonial-era people in Puritan clothing

Poetic Truths: Hawthorne, Longfellow, and American Visual Culture, 1840-1880 Explores the Relationship between the Literary Works of These Two Bowdoin Graduates and the Arts

Curated by Laura F. Sprague, Senior Consulting Curator, this exhibition considers the artistic influence of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow while marking the bicentennial of the famed Bowdoin College Class of 1825.

news

A detail of a portrait painting showing a three-quarter view of young soldier with arms crossed in Civil War-era attire

Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr. on Samuel Fessenden Portrait

Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., Maine State Historian and Bowdoin College Honorary Degree Recipient, 2008, discusses the portrait Samuel Fessenden (1867) by Walter M. Brackett.

A detail of a black and white photograph of three women and a baby in 1930s era attire gathered around a desk

Object of the Month

Highlighting the idea of community organizing as an act of love, Danyelle Morgado writes about the photograph Meeting of the Mothers’ Club (1938) by Dorothea Lange.

calendar

Thursday, February 6, 2025

"Meeting of the Minds: Longfellow, Hawthorne, and the Productive Influence of their Artistic Wives" with Nicholas Basbanes

4:30 p.m. | Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center

Friday, February 7, 2025

"Gallery Talk | Poetic Truths: Hawthorne, Longfellow, and American Visual Culture, 1840-1880

10:30 a.m. | Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Artist Talk | "Site of the Fall: Conversation with Artist Reza Aramesh"

5 p.m. | Beam Classroom, Visual Arts Center

Thursday, February 13, 2025

"Ecology-Informed Art: A Collaborative Approach to Printmaking" with Barbara Putnam

3 p.m. | Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Workshop | "Scratching the Surface" with Barbara Putnam

4:15 p.m. | Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Thursday, February 27, 2025

Artist Talk | "Ingenuity and Risk: Conservation with Artist Anthony Viti"

5 p.m. | Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Thursday, March 6, 2025

Music at the Museum with George Lopez and Gulimina Mahamuti

Noon and 5 p.m. | Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Museum Hours

Tuesday-Saturday: 10:00 a.m.-5:00 pm | Thursday: 10:00 a.m.-8:30 p.m. | Sunday: 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. | Closed on Mondays and national holidays.

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art is open to the public free of charge. The Museum is wheelchair accessible through the Pavilion entrance.

Bowdoin College Museum of Art | 9400 College Station | Brunswick, ME 04011 | 207.725.3275

artmuseum@bowdoin.edu bowdoin.edu/art-museum

Banner: Thomas Hill, Floral Still Life with Bird's Nest, 1860, oil on canvas. Bowdoin College Museum, Brunswick, Maine. Museum Purchase, Florence C. Quinby Fund, in memory of Henry Cole Quinby, Honorary Degree, 1916, 1970.33