Two Maine Museums Feature Carl Sprinchorn Exhibitions This Fall

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Two Maine institutions, the Ogunquit Museum of American Art (OMAA) and the Bates College Museum of Art, are jointly presenting a pair of exhibitions focused on artist Carl Sprinchorn this fall.

The OMAA exhibition, titled“Carl Sprinchorn: All the World is a Painting,” runs through November 1. This show highlights Sprinchorn's versatility, moving between working-class themes and scenes of leisure, and depicting intimate portraits alongside vibrant compositions of lumberjacks, hunters, dancers, and swimmers. Born in Sweden in 1887, Sprinchorn arrived in New York in 1903 to study with Robert Henri. His extensive travels and connections with artists like Marsden Hartley, Charles Demuth, and Florine Stettheimer positioned him within key artistic circles that shaped early 20th-century American art. The exhibition also explores Sprinchorn's identity as a Swedish immigrant, a gay man, and a modern painter engaging with themes of region, labor, and the natural world. An example of his work, Carl Sprinchorn, Lumberjacks, Shin Pond, 1941 an oil on board measuring 36 x 41 1⁄2 inches framed, is featured courtesy of Jay DeMartine and photographed by Luc Demers.

The Bates College Museum of Art presents“Carl Sprinchorn: Points of View,” on view through December 19. This exhibition features over 70 drawings, pastels, watercolors, and paintings, offering a comprehensive look at Sprinchorn's evolving style from the 1900s to the 1960s. It emphasizes his ability to capture the emotion and action of a moment. Sprinchorn had two prolific periods in Maine, first in Monson in the 1910s and 1920s, where he created mysterious figures and moody landscapes. He returned to Maine in the late 1930s, depicting rural life around Shin Pond through seasonal landscapes, portraits of male figures, and sketches of hunting and logging. A self-portrait, Carl Sprinchorn, Self-Portrait on Hotel Stationery, August 12, 1924 a graphite on paper piece measuring 9 3/8 x 5 7/8 inches, was a 2018 gift from the Carl Sprinchorn Admiration Society to the Bates College Museum of Art. Another work, Carl Sprinchorn, Palm Trees: Santo Domingo, 1926 a watercolor measuring 14 x 19 inches, was also a 2018 gift to the Bates College Museum of Art from the Carl Sprinchorn Admiration Society. While long associated with Maine, where he produced compelling images, Sprinchorn's career encompasses a much broader cultural and aesthetic landscape.

A joint catalogue, Carl Sprinchorn: A Rediscovery published by the University of Maine Press, accompanies both exhibitions. The catalogue and concurrent shows aim to elevate Sprinchorn to a national platform alongside his contemporaries, re-examining his contributions to American art within broader discussions of modernism, queer history, environmental concerns, and transnational artistic exchange. The OMAA, located in Ogunquit, Maine, operates daily from 10am to 5pm through November 1. The Bates College Museum of Art, in Lewiston, Maine, is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10am to 5pm.

Source: Hyperallergic

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