Paintings

AAN acquires Hoffmeier painting for permanent collection

April 22, 20243 Mins Read


The Inquirer and Mirror

(April 22, 2024) The Artists Association of Nantucket has acquired the early to mid-20th century oil painting “Sails,” by Emily L. Hoffmeier, one of the founding members of the Artists Association of Nantucket and served on its first executive committee.

Hoffmeier (1888-1952) was an active participant in the artist colony on Nantucket for over 20y years, living and painting out of waterfront studios from 1929 to her death in 1952. After the death of Maud Stumm in 1935, Hoffmeier took over the direction of the annual Sidewalk Art Show, still in existence today, which she ran for the next 18 years.

Hoffmeier was a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, where she eventually taught art classes. In the late 1920s to early 1930s, she studied plein air painting, taught on-island by Frank Swift Chase – credited as the dean of the early Nantucket artist colony – and off-island in Boothbay Harbor, Maine and Gloucester.

Her painting was characterized by traditional Nantucket landscapes, wharf scenes and views of historic buildings in oil. Chase’s influence is apparent in Hoffmeier’s loose, impressionistic brushwork, but her own style emerges in the dramatic play of light and shadow evident in her paintings.

Hoffmeier exhibited her work on-island in the Easy Street Gallery, the Candle House Studio and later at the Kenneth Taylor Galleries as a member of the Artists Association.

Purchased at auction from the Provincetown Art Association & Museum for an undisclosed sum, “Sailsillustrates a popular pastime of Nantucket visitors and residents, calling to mind a busy summer’s day on the water.






Painted at a small scale – the piece measures four-and-a-half by six inches unframed – Hoffmeier utilizes thick brushstrokes to demonstrate the texture of clouds and sailcloth, as well as the reflections of light and color in the water.

Strong vertical lines of an orangey-red depict the masts of the boats, drawing the viewer’s eye up and down across the canvas. “Sails joins five other Hoffmeier pieces in the AAN’s permanent collection.

The permanent collection began with AAN founders like Hoffmeier who saw the need for documenting Nantucket’s art colony history. They also imagined the collection providing a visual context for the association’s history while offering a precious heritage for the future.

Today the collection numbers nearly 1,700 works and continues to grow.

To learn more about AAN’s permanent collection, visit the website at nantucketarts.org/art/permanent-collection





Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts