The Banks Gallery @ Strawbery Banke Museum

White Mountain Paintings April 2011

2011-04-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

White Mountain paintings which were included in the exhibition "From the Mountains to the Sea". High lighted artists in viewing order; Winckworth Allan Gay, Hippolyte Jean Baptiste Garneray, Maria A'Becket, William S. Robinson, and William Titcomb

Boston, Paris left early influences on artist Ralph Coburn - The Boston Globe

2011-04-03T06:16:00.000-07:00

One of the most under recognized American painters, Ralph Coburn.

Boston, Paris left early influences on artist Ralph Coburn - The Boston Globe

The Music Hall, Portsmouth, NH - An American Treasure for the Arts

2011-03-09T20:00:00.000-08:00

The Banks Gallery will host an opening reception on April 7th for the exhibition titled "From the Mountains to the Sea". Following the reception will be a screening of the new film "Brush and Pen: Artists and Writers of the White Mountains, 1800-1900" which will be held at the Music Hall Loft. Please visit the link bellow for details:

The Music Hall, Portsmouth, NH - An American Treasure for the Arts

Rare Queen Anne Carved Walnut and Walnut Veneer Hig

2011-02-17T10:23:00.000-08:00

Wonderful piece of New Hampshire history is coming up for sale at Skinner Auctions.

Rare Queen Anne Carved Walnut and Walnut Veneer Hig

Andrew Wyeth Draws A Portrait

2011-01-15T08:31:00.000-08:00

Bellow is a link to a video featuring two of the great characters of the 20th century in American Art.

Andrew Wyeth Draws A Portrait

Gone Fishin' - A Bigger bite

2011-01-11T20:45:00.000-08:00

Meet Will Barnet

2011-01-11T20:19:00.000-08:00

Brice Marden on "Cold Mountain 6 'Bridge'"

2011-01-11T20:14:00.000-08:00

Walton Ford. A Self-Portrait

2011-01-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

Musée d'Orsay: Video trailer of the Gérôme exhibition

2011-01-08T09:21:00.000-08:00

Musée d'Orsay: Video trailer of the Gérôme exhibition

Small Gems for Christmas Under $1,000.

2010-12-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

Looking for that last minute Christmas gift? Stop by the Banks Gallery. We have lots of wonderful paintings for under $1000. Check them out, or stop by the gallery, there are still more to see.

Craig Pursley, Morning on Squam, 6" x 12" $800.

Catherine Raynes, Orange Boat, 6" x 8" $575.

Monique Sakellarios, California Red, 5" x 7" $585.

Molly Wensberg, At Sea, 6" x 6" $375.

Kathy Morrissey, Strawbery Banke, 4' x 6" $450.

Lisa Noonis, Blue Vase, 7" x 7" $800.

"Unwrapped" New paintings by artist Sean Beavers

2010-12-08T12:13:00.000-08:00

"Boxed Blueberries" Oil on Linen, 6x6

On Friday, November 26th The Banks Gallery hosted on Artist's reception for Sean Beavers. Sean is pictured on your right with fiance and fellow artist, Sydney Bella Sparrow, seen talking to gallery clients. Sean's work will be on view and for sale at the gallery through January 8th 2011. Please call the gallery for more details, (603)431-9799.

A Recent Discovery, White Mountain Art

2010-11-20T20:03:00.000-08:00

We recently acquired a previously unknown and important work of Mount Washington by the Boston painter Sylvester Phelps Hodgdon (1830-1906). The painting was unsigned and labeled "European Mountain Scene". In a blink of an eye we knew that the scene was Mount Washington and depicted the entrance to the then named Mount Washington Carriage Road (now known as the Mount Washington Auto Road). The painting was purchased with the knowledge of the location and we assumed that we would be able to identify the artist when we could examine and research the painting. This proved difficult at first, but once we were pointed in the right direction the answer became obvious. Bellow is the process of how we identified the artist.

I learned that White Mountain Art Historian Charlie Vogel would be passing through Portsmouth early one morning. I made arrangements to meet him and his traveling companion at the Portsmouth Traffic Circle. When I arrived I pulled the painting from the car and gently placed it on the pavement leaning against my car's tire. The bright sun light helped to reveal all of the details of the painting. Before I could say much Charlie said that is a very nice painting by Sylvester Phelps Hodgdon. Hodgdon was one a of a number of painters I was considering, but Charlie had no doubt. I raced back to the gallery and began pulling up Hodgdon images to compare. It was not long before I had found the image of Mount Adams painted by Hodgdon in 1873 which had been exhibited in New Hampshire Historical Societies exhibit "Consuming Views". With the wonders of Photo Shop I put the two paintings together and they lined up almost perfectly. Hodgdon could have painted both during the same visit to the Glen House in 1873.

Bellow is the composit image of both Hodgdon paintings.

Warren Sheppard, Isles of Shoals

2010-11-20T19:15:00.000-08:00

I thought I would illustrate an example of how seeing past a estate condition painting can provide outstanding results. A few weeks ago the gallery purchased a work by Warren Sheppard of the Isles of Shoals. The painting looked horrible with a yellow stain covering the entire painting. I had a good feeling that the discoloration was a result of years of exposure to cigarette smoke. A very simple and quick cleaning revealed the true colors and beauty of the painting. Bellow are the before and after pictures.

Before Cleaning:

After Cleaning:

Carol Aronson-Shore Open Studio

2010-10-21T13:16:00.000-07:00

The Banks Gallery recently hosted an open studio for Carol Aronson-Shore at the Button Factory in Portsmouth. The work in the studio focused on Carols Strawbery Banke Series, which consists of 40+ paintings of the buildings on the grounds of the Museum. The Open Studio was an opportunity to see several of Carols paintings before her show at the UNH Art Gallery, which opens up November 5th and runs through December 16th. The opening reception will be from 5-7pm on November 5th at the UNH Art Gallery and is open to all. Please contact us at the Banks Gallery (6-3)431-9799) if interested in seeing or purchasing a painting before the opening.

Strawbery Banke Museum takes fresh look in Painting Portsmouth show - The Boston Globe

2010-10-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — The images are familiar: the North Church steeple, the salt pile, the busy harbor and Memorial Bridge. But most of the 34 paintings have kept a low profile, hanging in quiet corners of public buildings or in private homes, or even stored away. And when the “Painting Portsmouth’’ exhibition at Strawbery Banke Museum ends on Oct. 31, they will go back whence they came.

“We wanted to put up pieces that people had never seen before, and we achieved that in spades,’’ said Strawbery Banke’s chief curator, Kimberly Alexander. “The 34 paintings we borrowed from 30 different lenders. So it’s a seemingly small, simple exhibit that was actually very complicated.’’

The paintings span the last two centuries, from John Blunt’s circa 1832 “View of Portsmouth (N.H.) from Freeman’s Point,’’ which has been kept high on a wall at City Hall, to Carol Aronson-Shore’s 2009 “Groceries at Strawbery Banke.’’ But there are no dotcom hipsters, no parking garage, no Starbucks on display in the museum’s new Rowland Gallery. Even the most recent works depict a city drenched in history.

“A lot of pieces came right out of Portsmouth’s attics and hanging over fireplaces, and then suddenly you find you’ve got a Charles Woodbury, a very charming etching that somebody had tucked away and hadn’t looked at in generations,’’ Alexander said. “We’ve had so many people come forward’’ offering works for the museum’s exhibition, she said, “that we could easily do a second show.’’

The Navy’s presence across the water in Kittery, Maine, adds unexpected surprise to Edmund C. Tarbell’s 1926 work “Hollyhocks and Sunshine,’’ as a corner of the dreaded (and now vacant) naval prison peeks from behind mainland flowers. Scott Moore’s circa 2006 “Spring Thaw, Portsmouth Harbor’’ captures the bright light on melting snow in the South End — eyeball it from across the room for the full effect.

“It gives you that appropriate shiver of that late-March, early-April day,’’ said Alexander. “But the light, the reflection, is just exquisite.’’

The Hancock Street museum has arranged a number of special events since the show’s May opening, including a talk Wednesday by historian Peter Michaud, “Coming of Age in the Piscataqua: John Samuel Blunt’s Portsmouth,’’ starting with a reception at 5 p.m.

Alexander co-curated the exhibition with Jamie LaFleur, owner of the popular Banks Gallery on Court Street. Several of the paintings are part of Strawbery Banke’s collection, including the show’s signature image, “Portsmouth Harbor’’ by Margaret Jordan Patterson. A new acquisition from a New York gallery, the watercolor is by an artist best known for her woodblock prints, Alexander said, and the museum would not have been able to afford one of those.

“It’s been a real sort of shot in the arm for the collection,’’ Alexander said. Of the 20,000-plus items in the museum’s permanent collection, only about 100 are paintings, etchings, and the like, she said.

Aronson-Shore said she is especially excited to be part of “Painting Portsmouth.’’ The Chicago native has lived a short walk from Strawbery Banke for 25 years, and for the last few years the museum has been her primary muse.

“As I started working with the subject, I realized it had so many possibilities for me that one painting led to another, and now I have over 40 paintings in the series,’’ she said.

In her “Groceries,’’ the viewer looks out from the shadows into the sunshine.

“It’s that strong light and shadows that comes early in the day or late in the day . . . It was only afterward that I realized I was trying to say something about the two experiences we have at Strawbery Banke, dealing with the past and the present,’’ Aronson-Shore said.

“When we’re walking through the streets and on the campus of Strawbery Banke, we have a powerful experience of being in a place that has endured. Certainly the houses and the grouping of houses give you a sense of community. But we also have a very vibrant experience. Even though it’s called a museum, it feels very much alive and an extension of Portsmouth.’’

Many more of her Strawbery Banke paintings will be on display in “The Shape of Color: Carol Aronson-Shore,’’ a five-week show opening Nov. 6 at the University of New Hampshire Museum of Art.

“Painting Portsmouth’’ is also a new thing for Strawbery Banke, which is known mainly for historic and craft displays.

“This is not the type of show we’re known for doing, a fine-arts show,’’ said Alexander. “I think it’s also taken a while for people to get their heads around it locally. Now it’s like this great big thing everyone’s very proud of it, very involved in it, telling all their friends.’’

“Painting Portsmouth,’’ through Oct. 31 at the Strawbery Banke Museum, 14 Hancock St., Portsmouth, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., free with adult admission ($15). For details, call 603-433-1100 or visit the museum’s website, www.strawberybanke.org.

Link to article:

Portsmouth then and now displayed in seldom-seen paintings

Annual White Mountain Art Show

2010-09-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

SAVE THE DATE

The 8th Annual White Mountain Art Sale & Show will be held October 15 - 17 in the Jackson (NH) Historical Society's new home in Jackson's historic old Town Hall.

Featured are 19th century paintings by artists of the White Mountain School of Art and contemporary White Mountain scenes by artists from the Banks Gallery.

There will be a reception on Friday, October 15th at 6:00 - 9:00PM with a talk by Andrea Melville, producer of a new documentary entitled "Brush and Pen; Artists and Writers of the White Mountains, 1800-1900". This documentary will be broadcast on PBS next year.

Wine and refreshments will be served at the Reception - no admission fee, but donations appreciated.

The Sale will continue on Saturday, October 16th, 10:00 to 4:00 and on Sunday, October 17th, 10:00 to 3:00.

Carol Aronson-Shore Open Studio

2010-09-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

"Morning Shadows", Oil on Canvas, 30" x 30"

The Banks Gallery will be hosting an Open Studio for Carol Aronson-Shore as a preview to Carol's upcoming show at the UNH Museum titled "The Shape of Color." The Open Studio will be held at the Button Factory Wednesday October 20th from 6-8pm. This is a rare opportunity to see works by Carol prior to her major exhibit @ UNH. A catalogue of Carol's work will also available at the studio as well as through

The Blue Tree, llc. @ www.thebluetree.com

Upcoming Exhibit- Modern Heritage

2010-09-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

Modern Heritage will feature new paintings by artists Jamie LaFleur and Anthony Moore. The exhibit will be held at the Portsmouth Discovery Center from October 7th -31st , with an opening reception on October 7th from 5pm-7pm. This will be the first exhibition in Portsmouth by either artist in more then 5 years. While the work of these two artists offers a contrast in style, subject, and treatment, they share a bond of the continuation of the strong tradition of Western painting. The direction chosen by LaFleur and Moore highlights the extent to which painting continues to reveal new aspects about life today and its importance to a new generation of artists.

Jamie LaFleur, "Hay" Oil on Linen, 24" x 30"
Anthony Moore, "Pavese" Oil on Panel, 27.75" x 11"

Lockwood De Forest painting

2010-09-15T10:22:00.000-07:00

New in the gallery this week, a landscape painting by Lockwood De Forest, of the Conway Meadows with Moat Mountain and White Horse and Cathedral Ledge. Best know for his work as an interior and building designer working with Louis Comfort Tiffany De Forest is also known as one of America's finest atmospheric painters. He was strongly influenced by the Hudson River School but developed his own style creating a looser landscape "sketch."

For more information and a great video on Lockwood De Forest check out this link:

www.sullivangoss.com/Lockwood_DeForest/

Oil on Paper, mounted on canvas, 11" x 14" signed and dated lower left, "LdeF Jan 14/05"

White Mountain Art

2010-08-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

Pictured to the right is a recent acquisition of a painting by the great White Mountain artist Benjamin Champney (1817-1907). This is a warm painting with wonderful atmosphere depicting farmers gathering hay. It is impossible to know the exact location of the painting given the lack of a geographical landmark, but it certainly feels like the Conway Valley. I purchased the work last week from a private collector in Tuscon AZ. It is always wonderful to bring a piece of NH back to the Granite State.

Benjamin Champney (1817-1907), "Haying Scene, Conway Valley", ca. 1870, oil on panel, 10" x 16", signed and dated lower right

Island Light

2010-08-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

The Banks Gallery is proud to present Island Light. This is our third exhibition highlighting works of the Isles of Shoals. The show will run from September 4th through the 30th. Part of the proceeds from sales will go to support the Light House Kids White Island Light Restoration Fund.

Contemporary Artists: Carol Aronson-Shore, Kevin Beers, James Coe, Sally Ladd Cole, Tom Glover, Grant Hacking, Tom Hughes, Stapleton Kearns, TM Nicholas, Tom Nicholas, Monique Sakellarios, and Molly Wensberge.

Island Light

2010-08-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

You are invited to attend the preview for Island Light this Saturday August, 21st from 4 - 6 PM. This wonderful evening will be held in two spectacular homes, 17 & 50 Heather Dr., in Rye, NH. See masterworks by historical and contemporary artists in a grand setting.

Painting trip to Star Island

2010-07-17T12:12:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday July 13th, 9 artists from the Banks Gallery ventured out through the thick fog to Star Island for a day of plein air painting. The works started during this trip will be featured in our benefit exhibition on August 21st, to be held in two of the most spectacular homes in the Seacoast on Heather Drive in Rye, NH.
Pictured here are Tom Hughes(left) and T.M. Nicholas(right) painting in the early morning fog on the Eastern shore of Star Island.

Benefit for the Lighthouse Kids

2010-07-06T12:47:00.000-07:00

On August 21st we will present an exhibition to benefit the Lighthouse Kids. The exhibition will feature recent and historical paintings of the New Hampshire Coast and Isles of Shoals. The exhibit will be held in two spectacular private homes on Heather Dr in Rye, NH. Check back for details.

Lake Effect 2

2010-07-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

Lake Effect 2 has been installed and is open for viewing. Please visit the Castle in the Clouds in Moultonborough, NH to see over 40 paintings of the New Hampshire Lakes region and White Mountains. New works by William R. Davis, TM Nicholas, James Coe, Grant Hacking and Sam Vokey hang with historic works by Russel Smith, Benjamin Champney, Victor De Grailey, and Sylvester Phelps Hodgdon.

We will be on hand from July 29th - August 1st. I hope you can make the trip up to see an unbelievable exhibition in one of the most extraordinary locations in New Hampshire.

Jeremy Miranda

2010-06-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

Everything old is new again. Jeremy Miranda was with the gallery when we first opened back in 2004. In 2005 he moved Portland Oregon, and we lost touch. Last year Jeremy moved back to New England and I am thrilled to have his work back in the gallery.

Pictured to the left is one of nine new paintings by Miranda.

Jeremy Miranda, "Sunrise Rye Beach", acrylic on panel, 12" x 12", signed in verso

Sally Ladd Cole

2010-06-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

Pictured is Sally Ladd Cole's most recent painting titled "Sunshine and Sea Foam". This piece is her latest in her popular series of surf paintings. She is able to create an extraordinary sense of surface and reflected light on the water.

Sally Ladd Cole, "Sunshine and Sea Foam", oil on canvas, 18" x 24"

White Mountain Art

2010-06-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

Pictured at left is a painting Titled "View from Randolph Hill" by Homer Dodge Martin (1836 - 1897). The two Mountains depicted are Mount Madison and Mount Adams. I purchased the painting from an estate sale on Cape Cod this past winter. The painting is unsigned so the seller offered the painting as by an "Important American Painter" because the family could not remember who the artist was.

I had just read "The Intimate Landscape" which featured Martin's masterpiece "View from Randolph Hill" in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The MET subsequently sold the painting in 2007 through Christie's, the online catalog can be viewed at this link, www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot_details.aspx?pos=3&intObjectID=5073688&sid=. The painting that we now own measures 18" x 30", far smaller then the MET's 30" x 50". This is undoubtedly a study for the larger painting, perhaps even the plein air study.

Martin was an important figure in American painting. He and George Inness were the two pivotal artists who broke from the pervasive Hudson River School Style and championed the new and avant-guard Barbizon Style.

Homer Dodge Martin (1836 - 1897), "View from Randolph Hill", circa 1862, oil on canvas, 18" x 30", unsigned

White Mountain Art

2010-05-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

Pictured is our most recent acquisition, a rare painting of Mount Kearsage by Marion Howard (1883-1953). Marion Howard is an artist that the gallery has been researching and actively acquiring works by for the past five years. She is one of the leading female artists in New England during the first half of the 20th century. She studied with New Hampshire artist Edmund Tarbell and then was a resident of New Hampshire for much of her adult life. She produced some of the most stunning works of the Granite State with subjects such as the Isles of Shoals, New Castle Island, and the White Mountains. This painting is a wonderful example of American impressionism. The details of the painting are bellow.

Marion Howard (1883-1953), "Mt. Kearsage, North Conway, NH", circa 1942, oil on panel, 9" x 10", signed lr, M Howard, signed, titled, and dated inverso in the artist hand

2010-05-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Banks Gallery Summer season begins in June. First on June 28th we will install an exhibition of contemporary and historical paintings of the New Hampshire Lakes Region at the Castle in the Clouds in Moultonborough, NH. This exhibit will be up and open to the Castle guests until August 2nd. We will also be participating for the first time in the Lakeside Living Expo on July 16th - 17th. This event is held at Gunstock Ski Resort in Guilford, NH. Please refer to their website for all information www.lakesidelivingexpo.com. We will finish the Castle in the Clouds exhibit with a sales weekend on July 29th through August 1st. This sales weekend will be kicked off with the Castles annual Gala. Please reserve your tickets now by contacting the Castle. Please refer to their website for details www.castleintheclouds.org. We look forward to seeing you all on the Lake this summer.

2010-05-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

"Lily Well" is a recently finished painting by artist Sydney Bella Sparrow. The painting is oil on linen mounted on panel, and measures 13" x 9". Sparrow has continued to produce works of exquisite detail and sensitivity. She is quickly becoming recognized as one of the leaders in the field of contemporary realism.

James W. Embury

2010-05-14T16:20:00.000-07:00

This week's acquisition is a very attractive painting by little known 19th century American artist J W Embury. It is a painting of Lake Winnipesaukee from Meredith, looking East towards Wolfeboro. The painting retains it's original gold guilt frame and is in excellent condition.

James W. Embury, "Lake Winnipesaukee", oil on canvas, 11.5" x 17.5", signed lower left J W Embury

2010-05-08T12:10:00.000-07:00

Our newest acquisition is a painting by Sylvester Phelps Hodgdon (1830-1906). It depicts a waterfall in the White Mountains, probably Artist Falls. The painting is in untouched condition (no inpainting, repairs, or lining) and is presented in a beautiful 19th century frame.

Sylvester Phelps Hodgdon (1830-1906), "Artist Falls", oil on canvas, 14" x 12", signed S P Hodgdon in the lower center.

2010-05-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

In conjunction with "Painting Portsmouth" the gallery will have an ongoing selection of contemporary works depicting new Hampshire's Port City. The first of these works arrived last week. The painting is titled "South Meeting House from Marcy St, Portsmouth, NH" and was painted earlier this month by artist TM Nicholas. This is a unique painting due to the fact that this view was dramatically altered in the beginning of April when a large tree was removed from the yard with the white fence. We now can see far more of the amazing historic architecture of Portsmouth's South End.

2010-05-04T12:50:00.000-07:00

Strawbery Banke Museum opened for the season this week and I am proud to announce that The Banks Gallery helped co-curate the exhibit titled "Painting Portsmouth". Bellow is the press release for the exhibit.

Portsmouth, NH- April 16, 2010. Strawbery Banke Museum is pleased to present: Painting Portsmouth, a look at the diversity of life in Portsmouth as envisioned by a generous sampling of prominent mid-19^th to mid-20^th century artists.

From large-scale paintings by John Blunt and Emil Gruppe to gems by Edmund Tarbell , Fidelia Bridges, Charles Woodbury, and Charles Goodhue, among many others, there is something for everyone to savor and enjoy. The works will conjure up memories of shoreline summers, impressions of hard working fishermen along the bay or shipworkers at the Naval Shipyard, and visions of nature's elemental force and subtly in the Piscataqua and beyond.

"Our goal is to introduce visitors to an exhibition of significant Portsmouth paintings drawn from private collections, art galleries, public institutions, and auction houses, which have been rarely (if ever) seen and are little known to the public or to many within the art community. Many of the artists called the seacoast home, while others used vacation or travel to capture compelling views, many of which no longer exist" notes Lawrence Yerdon, President of Strawbery Banke Museum.

The exhibition opens on May 1st, 2010 and will be on view through October 31st, 2010. Co-curated by Kimberly Alexander, Ph.D., Chief Curator of Strawbery Banke and Jamie LeFluer, owner of Portsmouth's popular Banks Gallery, the exhibition will be held in Strawbery Banke's new, state-of-the-art Rowland Gallery. Among the many public offerings will be "learning to look" and painting programs for families, Plein air painting workshops for adults, and lectures for collectors, as well as gallery talks and tours of sites represented in the paintings. A catalog will be produced in conjunction with the exhibition.

This exhibit has been made possible by the generous support of Janet Y. and Lawrence A. Larose, Cynthia Raymond, Edward Newberry, Libby Sturges, Stephen H. and Julia L. Roberts, Northeast Auctions, and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.

For more information about the art exhibit and Strawbery Banke Museum, visit www.StrawberyBanke.org or call 603-433-1100.

The beginning

2010-05-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

This is the first blog entry for The Banks Gallery. We will try to keep you updated on new works by our artists as well as upcoming exhibitions and happenings. Please feel free to respond with any questions and comments. I hope our followers will find the blog helpful and entertaining.