Argosy Gallery | Through 9/30 | Bar Harbor, ME

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Argosy Gallery presents a showcase of works by its premier Maine artists

By Sarah Gianelli

Argosy Gallery is situated on scenic Mount Desert Island in Bar Harbor, Maine, a region renowned for its natural beauty and deep historical roots. The gallery, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, is known for its quality landscape and marine art, and is currently showcasing roughly 50 works by its Maine-based artists in a group show that runs through September.

Jennifer Holmes, Afternoon Calm, oil on panel, 12 x 12 in.

Participating artists include Steven Hileman, Nancy J. Hill, Jennifer Holmes, Scott Moore, Sarah Paine, Ronal Parlin and Nathan Ward.

“Each of these seven artists brings a distinct style to the gallery’s collection,” says owner and director Amy Sidman. “All share a deep appreciation of Maine’s special light and natural beauty. They consider it a privilege and a joy to have remarkable scenes just outside their front doors. The Maine writer and poet Carl Little once said of Scott Moore, ‘Moore has given heart and soul to the Maine landscape. His carefully constructed canvases reflect a profound passion for the elemental wonder of this magnificent state.’ These words could be applied to all these artists.”

Scott Moore, Cadillac April, oil on canvas, 20 x 30 in.

One of Moore’s show pieces is Cadillac April, a view from Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park which he says is about “distance, solitude and tranquil observation.” Moore lives in Stockton Springs, a small town of about 1,200 residents where the Penobscot River opens up into Penobscot Bay. “We live down by the old harbor on a street lined with 100-year-old oaks,” says Moore. “Maine is, by East Coast standards, a big state with a varied landscape: mountains, lakes, ocean, forests, which change with the seasons. Landscape painters have come here since the 19th century in search of this inspiring subject matter, and I have the good fortune to live here year-round.”

Hileman has made his home in the mid-coast region of Maine in Bucksport, where he finds inspiration in its rugged beauty. “From where I live, I have access to a wide variety of subject matter—the rocky coast of the Atlantic Ocean, quiet bays and harbors, and mountains,” as well as nearby Acadia National Park. “I am also inspired by the extreme seasonal changes which allows me to paint similar subjects in very different ways.”

Steven Hileman, Fire and Ice, oil on linen on panel, 9 x 12 in.

His painting Fire and Ice features a winter sunset captured on Thompson Island, a small island between Mount Desert and the mainland. “I pulled over and took some photos for reference, and continued on my way,” he shares, adding that he would not have been able to paint the scene on location because the light would’ve changed too rapidly, so it was executed in his studio. “Aside from the intensity of the sun setting behind the trees, I was attracted to the interplay of color and light, especially on the frozen surface of the water and the chunks of ice created by the tidal changes. I think the title, which came to mind early on, sums up well what I wanted to convey—the contrast between the warmth of the fiery sunset and the frigidness of the ice.”