A nod to famous Maine artists, most of them ‘summer people’

The Pine Tree State has long inspired painters and other visual artists, most of them attracted from elsewhere.

Here’s a sampling:

1. Marsden Hartley, an American Modernist master born in Lewiston and died in Ellsworth. What the desert was for Georgia O’Keeffe, Maine was for Hartley.
2. Neil Welliver, a Pennsylvanian who moved permanently to Lincolnville. Renowned for his large, square interior Maine nature studies – and a life of controversy and tragedy.
3. Three generations of Wyeths – N.C., Andy, and Jamie. The most famous, even as summer residents.
4. Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper. Led a parade of summer people who made the state’s rugged surf iconic.
5. Alex Katz, a New Yorker who forged a strong Maine connection from 1954 on in Lincolnville. Best known as a precursor to Pop art.
6. Frederic Church and Thomas Cole of the Hudson Valley School. Made their way to the Pine Tree State, too.
7. As a child, sculptor Louise Nevelson came from Russia to Rockland. As an adult, she relocated to New York City, something of a reversal of most artists.
8. Rockwell Kent. Spent five prolific summers on Monhegan Island.
9. Charles Herbert Woodbury. Founded the Ogunquit colony.
10. Lithuanian-born William Zorach. His family bought a farm on Georgetown Island in 1923 where they lived, worked, and entertained guests, juggling between New York City. Daughter Dahlov Ipcar also became a noted artist.