As the largest art museum in the state of Maine, the Portland Museum of Art serves as a vital cultural resource for all who visit. The Museum's collection of more than 17,000 objects is housed in three historic and remarkable buildings showcasing three centuries of art and architecture. With our constantly changing exhibitions and permanent collection, a diverse selection of fine and decorative arts is always on view.
This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Museum's award-winning Charles Shipman Payson building. Since its opening in 1983, the Payson building has been the public face of the Museum. In celebration of this milestone, the Museum is hosting an '80s-themed birthday party called Totally 25 on Friday, September 19. From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., the Museum will be filled with music, art-making activities, birthday cakes, and dancing. The event is free to the public.
This fall, step into the world of Claude Monet and John Singer Sargent with the exhibition, Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism, on view September 25 through January 4, 2009. The exhibition of 40 works of art from the Brooklyn Museum of Art explores the unities of style, color, and light in this all-important international movement. Featuring works by Claude Monet, Eugène-Louis Boudin, John Singer Sargent, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and their peers, this exhibition further explores the development of modernist sensibilities in the plein air easel traditions of France and the United States.
On our second floor, join us for a photography exhibit that pays tribute to the universal pleasure of reading. André Kertész: On Reading, on view through November 16, includes 89 photographs taken in Hungary, France, and the United States during a 50-year period by the internationally recognized photographer. Kertész's photographs illustrate his love of the poetry of life which are displayed with a balance of geometric composition and playful observation.
Don't forget to visit our fourth floor to see American Menagerie, on view through November 9. Featuring 25 works drawn primarily from the Museum's permanent collection, animals large and small, native and exotic, serve as vehicles for meaning that help artists explore issues of identity. Works by Dahlov Ipcar, Bernard Langlais, Will Barnet, Wendy Kindred, Scott Leighton, and Edward Hicks are featured. A special section of the exhibition showcases a group of illustrations by political cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman, who is credited with the creation of the "Teddy Bear."
All of these extraordinary exhibitions are explored in greater detail through art classes, music, lectures, and much more.
Welcome to the Portland Museum of Art.