Ogunquit Museum of American Art

Ogunquit Museum of American Art

Former name	Museum of Art of Ogunquit
Established	1953
Location	Ogunquit, Maine
Coordinates	43°14′02″N70°35′20″W / 43.2338°N 70.5889°W / 43.2338; -70.5889
Type	Art museum
Founder	Henry Strater
Director	Amanda Lahikainen
Website	ogunquitmuseum.org

The Ogunquit Museum of American Art (OMAA) is an art museum ^[1] located in Ogunquit, Maine. The Museum officially opened in 1953 and was founded by Lost Generation artist Henry Strater. Situated near Perkins Cove, the Museum and its three acres of sculpture gardens overlook Narrow Cove with views directly over the Atlantic Ocean. OMAA houses a permanent collection of over 3,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, and photographs spanning from the late 1800s to the present. ^[2]

History

Artist and collector Henry Strater purchased land in Ogunquit formerly owned by Charles Herbert Woodbury who is widely credited with founding the art colony in the village. ^[3]

Initially founded by Strater as The Museum of Art of Ogunquit, the institution was incorporated on September 18, 1951, with a mission for “the broad educational interests of the public.” Architect Charles Worley of Boston designed the museum to realize the full potential of the site on the coast. Strater commissioned architect Charles S. Worley Jr. to design the building it is housed in. ^[4] The museum opened its doors to the public on July 25, 1953.

The first exhibition included 121 works by modern artists Marsden Hartley, John Marin, Stuart Davis, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Peggy Bacon, Walt Kuhn, Frances Lamont, Hamilton Easter Field, and William von Schlegel, and was supported with the loan of important works from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art and the Downtown Gallery.

In the ensuing decades, the Ogunquit Museum of American Art has organized important exhibitions of modern and contemporary art by Edward Hopper, ^[5] Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth, ^[6] Dahlov Ipcar., ^[7] Anthony Cudahy, ^[8] Lee Krasner, ^[9] and Philip Koch. ^[10]

• Pages from the inaugural exhibition catalog at OMAA
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Collection

The museum houses over 3,000 works of art in its permanent collection. Highlights include:

• Important paintings by Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Walt Kuhn and Marsden Hartley
• A complete set of the graphic works of Jack Levine
• A large assortment of ceramic sculpture by Carl Walters
• Works by Will Barnet, Thomas Hart Benton, Charles Burchfield, William Zorach, Marguerite Zorach, Dahlov Ipcar, Alexander Calder, Edward Hopper, Gaston Lachaise, Roy Lichtenstein, and Reginald Marsh. ^[11]

References

1. "Directory Listing". mainearts.maine.gov.
2. "The Maine Art Museum Trail". maineartmuseums.org. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
3. "Ogunquit Museum of American Art Charles H. Woodbury and His Students". www.tfaoi.com. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
4. "History of the Ogunquit Museum of American Art". Ogunquit Museum of American Art. Archived from the original on February 9, 2014.
5. "Edward Hopper: The Ogunquit Paintings". www.antiquesandthearts.com. June 28, 2005. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
6. "Ogunquit Museum season includes Jamie Wyeth". seacoastonline.com. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
7. "Ogunquit opens its season with an exhibition of Dahlov Ipcar's early work". Press Herald. May 7, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
8. "Anthony Cudahy Aims to Be as Eclectic as a Tumblr Feed". New York Times. March 12, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
9. "'Lee Krasner: Geometries of Expression' Review: A Painter's Patterns in Ogunquit". Wall Street Journal. September 9, 2024. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
10. "Philip Koch: Isle of Dreams". Ogunquit Museum of American Art. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
11. "Ogunquit Museum of American Art: The Permanent Collection". Ogunquit Museum of American Art. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013.