Portland Museum of Art
Portland, Maine
1-207-775-6148 or 1-800-639-4067
http://www.portlandmuseum.org
ELIZABETH B. NOYCE COLLECTION
MEMORIAL EXHIBITION
- An exhibition of the collection
of Elizabeth B. Noyce, Maine philanthropist and
- art collector, opens at the Portland Museum of Art October
1, 1997. Featuring more than 60
- works by American artists, this is the first time masterpieces
from Mrs. Noyce's collection will be
- seen together. The Elizabeth B. Noyce Collection will
be on view through January 4, 1998.
-
- Elizabeth B. Noyce, who died in September 1996, bequeathed
her outstanding collection of
- American art to four Maine museums: the Portland Museum
of Art, The Farnsworth Art
- Museum, the Maine Maritime Museum, and the Monhegan Museum.
Mrs. Noyce had a close
- relationship with each of these institutions and the
dispersal of her collection reflects her rich
- understanding of their respective missions. It was her
objective not to place the collection at any
- one museum as a memorial to herself, but rather to share
it among institutions throughout the
- state to ensure that her collection will be a resource
for the people of Maine for generations to
- come.
-
- The bequest of 66 paintings to the Portland Museum of
Art is the most extensive gift of American
- art ever presented to the Museum. The Elizabeth B. Noyce
Collection has transformed the scope
- and quality of the Museum's American collection, bringing
to the Museum its first paintings by
- George Bellows, Alfred Thompson Bircher, Herman Dudley
Murphy, Abraham Walkowitz, and
- Jamie Wyeth, and adding masterpieces to the collection
by Fitz Hugh Lane, Childe Hassam, N.C.
- Wyeth, and Andrew Wyeth.
-
- The Elizabeth B. Noyce Collection exhibition brings together
Mrs. Noyce's paintings and
- explores her development as a collector. As her collection
grew, she became an avid student of
- the Maine's rich and varied art history. The earliest
works in The Elizabeth B. Noyce Collection
- date to the arrival in Maine in the nineteenth century
of the first landscape painters, including
- Alvan Fisher, Fitz Hugh Lane and Frederic Church. The
focus of Mrs. Noyce's collection was
- realism in Maine. The strength of this tradition is exemplified
through paintings by Winslow
- Homer, Robert Henri, Rockwell Kent, George Bellows, Edward
Hopper, and three generations of
- the Wyeth family. Her interests extended to more recent
developments such as neo-realism and
- photorealism, represented by the work of Neil Welliver
and Alan Magee.
-
- Throughout the collection's growth, Mrs. Noyce maintained
a high level of independence in
- choosing works. She tended to focus on acquiring one
piece at a time and knew the history of
- every work intimately. Over time, she became increasingly
selective, seeking out works that
- would fill in the picture she was composing of Maine's
role in American art. Each of her
- acquisitions balanced her knowledge of art history with
a more personal vision. For example, her
- love of the sea and boating informed her selection of
myriad paintings, from Maurice
- Prendergast's Group of Boats (Watching the Regatta) to
William Thon's Working Sloop.
-
- Along with Mrs. Noyce's heralded gifts to the Maine art
community, she made charitable gifts to
- non-profit institutions totaling between $50 million
and $75 million. In recent years, Mrs. Noyce
- had begun practicing what she called "catalytic
philanthropy," by investing in Maine businesses
- and communities with the goal of creating jobs and boosting
the economy.
-
- The Elizabeth B. Noyce Collection will travel to The
Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland,
- Maine in the spring of 1998. A full-color catalogue with
essays by exhibition curator, Jessica
- Nicoll and The Farnsworth Art Museum curator, Susan Larsen,
will be available in September.
-
- This exhibition is made possible through the generous
support of Perkins, Thompson,
- Hinckley & Keddy, Maine Bank & Trust Company,
and the John J. Nissen Baking Company.
-
Search for more articles
and essays on American art in Resource Library. See America's Distinguished Artists
for biographical information on historic artists.
This page was originally published in 1997 in Resource
Library Magazine. Please see Resource Library's Overview section for
more information.
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Fine Arts Organization, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit
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