While in Maine I persuaded my good friend and artist Eric Hopkins to give me a tour of the Farnsworth Art Museum’s major exhibition on renowned American artist Robert Indiana. The show, the first major U.S. exhibition for Indiana in a decade, explores the vast range of his work from the 1950s to the present, focusing on what he has done since 1978, when he moved permanently to the Star of Hope Lodge, a late nineteenth-century building on the island of Vinalhaven, Maine.

A few pieces from the show…

For the first time in 44 years Robert Indiana’s EAT sign is back on display; installed atop the museum roof with flashing lights on five large metal discs with the letters E, A, and T.  Perhaps best known for his use of symbols and simple, bold pieces such as LOVE and HOPE. EAT is a tribute to his mother who worked in a diner and whose dying word was “eat.”

Robert Indiana Electric EAT, 1960s on top of Farnsworth

R.I. Love, 1996 Polychrome aluminum 72 x 72 x 36 inches Museum purchase

Actress Marilyn Monroe was one of Indiana’s most famous subjects. Descent of the Love Goddess refers to her liaison with former President John F. Kennedy.  Just as Indiana’s treatment of Monroe underwent transformation so did this painting after water ran down the left edge of the canvas and stained it permanently.  Now the painting supposedly refers not only to the Monroe/Kennedy liaison, but also to former President Bill Clinton and White House employee Monica Lewinsky’s famously stained blue dress.

R.I. The Descent of a Love Goddess, 2000 oil on canvas 101 3/4 x 101 3/4 inches

Over the past year I have been fortunate enough to spend time with Frances Kornbluth, artist and longtime  island summer resident, in her studio on Monhegan. Now in her late 80’s she seems to me as full of life and every bit the character she likely was in her 20’s.  When we met up this time she shared with me an exchange she had with Jack Kerouac shortly after On the Road was published.  She wrote Kerouac “Thank you for peopling the social statistics.” He responded “To know God truly is to have no preconceptions.”

Frances Kornbluth was born in New York City in 1920, the oldest of three children she was the subject of a wide range of influences. Members of her extended family included a dress designer, Zigfield Follies performer, a music editor at Columbia Pictures, and a singer with the original Hammerstein quartet. After her dream of becoming a composer was discouraged she decided to follow her creative pursuits by enrolling at Pratt Institute. While at Pratt her teacher Reuben Tam introduced Kornbluth to Monhegan Island and encouraged her to enter competitions and exhibit her work.

Working with a variety of materials including watercolors, collages, mixed media and acrylics, Kornbluth’s works have always been inspired by her natural surroundings. Over the years, however, her work has become more expressive with overlapping layers focusing on imagery and mood as well as the colors of the New England landscape.

Kornbluth has won numerous awards including several from the National Association of Women Artists, participated in exhibitions in Europe, New York and throughout New England, and is held in private collection. She regularly takes part in the open artist studio programs on Monhegan and near her permanent home in northeastern Connecticut.

If you can make it to Monhegan this summer I highly recommend you enjoy dinner at The Island Inn and check out this extraordinary woman’s show. exhibiting 15 – 20 pieces done between 1975 – 2005 in the dining room at The Island Inn now thru Columbus Day Weekend, 2009.  Kornbluth will also be in a show on collages at the Portland Museum of Art this winter.

Frances Kornbluth

Frances in the Monhegan studio her late husband built.

Finished works by Frances Kornbluth.

Monhegan Island is located ten miles off the coast of Maine between Portland and Acadia National Park in the Gulf of Maine adjacent to Manana Island.  Sometimes called the “Artist’s Island” Monhegan has drawn such prestigious artists as Jamie and Andrew Wyeth, Edward Hopper, Rockwell Kent, George Bellows, James Fitzgerald and Robert Henri.

On a bluff overlooking the ocean is The Island Inn, one of the most scenic bed and breakfasts in Maine. Guests can relax in rocking chairs on the front porch or on the lawn in Adirondacks - perfect vantage points to watch the comings and goings in the harbor and magnificent sunsets at days end. The 32 room inn dates back to 1816.

Monhegan’s terrain is comprised of rocky shorelines, breathtaking cliffs, forests, hiking trails, dirt roads, rocky hilly terrain and village areas. There is a fishing community, which comprises the majority of the 65 or so winter residents, and a significant summer population driven by artists, birdwatchers and tourists.

The Barnacle

The Barnacle, a small general store run by The Island Inn, offers a full line of locally roasted coffees and hosting a state-of-the-art espresso machine. An extensive selection of red and white wines, sodas, waters, and ice cream, a variety of baked goods (I am particularly fond of the White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut cookie) prepared sandwiches and salads, and souvenirs.

The island is accessible by ferry from Boothbay Harbor, New Harbor and Port Clyde.  The inn and most merchants are open between Memorial Day and Columbus Day.

Elizabeth Ann ferry arriving Monhegan

road from ferry dock to inn and village

homes on Monhegan

standing on the water's edge

breathtaking coastline of Monhegan