Cape Cod Visions
An exhibition at Debra Force Fine Art features works from Herman Maril’s time in Provincetown
An exhibition at Debra Force Fine Art features works from Herman Maril’s time in Provincetown
In the mid-1930s, Herman Maril began spending his summers in the Cape Cod community of Provincetown.already a wellestablished art colony, the town left such an impression on Maril that he returned every summer for the rest of his life. Beginning September 5, Debra Force Fine Art will celebrate the artist’s decadeslong relationship with the coastal town with the exhibition Herman Maril:the Provincetown Paintings, which runs through October 19.
The show primarily focuses on Maril’s works created in the 1950s through the 1980s, in mediums ranging from watercolors and oils to a large tapestry. In them, Maril highlights the scenes and places he became intimately familiar with after many years of making his summer home on the Cape Cod peninsula. He was a regular visitor
to Kendall Lane Beach, where he would swim and paint on a near-daily basis.a large oil in the show shares its name with the locale.
One of the earlier works in the exhibition is The Weirs, a seascape executed in 1955. Bethany Dobson, director of Debra Force Fine Art, describes,“it’s a particularly strong piece, and the bright green and blue colors are beautifully done. It’s a watercolor, and you have these heavily saturated pigments among lighter washes.”
A 1977 work on paper stands out among a body of work that is mostly characterized by bright, vibrant colors. Breakers is an abstracted ocean view
done with a limited palette of blacks, grays and whites.“it’s quite a bit different from the other pieces we’re highlighting in the show,” says Dobson. The exhibition isn’t solely made up of marine views.a large watercolor, titled Evening Roots, Provincetown, shows the town with the water in the distance.“it was a favorite of the family’s,” Dobson notes.“his wife wouldn’t allow for it to be sold during her lifetime, so we’re honored to have it in the gallery now.”
There are also several views from the artist’s home.“the Window shows the household items that were in Maril’s sight as he looked out the window to paint the landscape,” Dobson describes.
In a large tapestry, Maril captures the essence of his garden.
The Debra Force exhibition runs concurrently with a retrospective of the artist’s work at the Cahoon Museum of American Art in Cotuit, Massachusetts, titled Herman Maril: The Strong Forms of Our Experience, on view through October 28.