UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Palmer Museum of Art will present a new exhibition titled "Recent Acquisitions: Gifford Beal in Rockport" from Aug. 23 through Dec. 18.
In 1923, Gifford Beal, a lifelong New Yorker who previously preferred to work during the warmer months of the year at his family’s home in Newburg on the Hudson River, took to summering in Rockport, a fishing village on the northeast coast of Massachusetts. The new venue inspired a major shift in his painting. The impressionist-inspired approach Beal had adopted under the influence of his teacher, William Merritt Chase, gave way to a more earnest form of realism reflecting a heightened level of respect for the working men and women of the area.
The impetus for the exhibition is a painting by Beal that was acquired in 2014 with funds raised by the Friends of the Palmer Museum of Art, titled "After the Storm," from circa 1930, in which lobster fishermen scour the shore for traps and buoys that have been scattered by a gale. The canvas is accompanied by a selection of prints and drawings featuring images of Rockport’s fishing industry, all recent gifts from the estate of Gifford Beal made through the efforts of Kraushaar Galleries, which gave the artist his first solo exhibition in 1920 and thereafter served as his dealer for the remainder of his career.
Patrick McGrady, Charles V. Hallman Curator, will lead a gallery talk titled "Recent Acquisitions: Gifford Beal in Rockport" at 12:10 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 30, in the exhibition gallery located on the museum’s second floor.
Also on view at the Palmer Museum of Art this fall are "The Gentle Satire of Adolf Dehn," Aug. 30 through Dec. 18, and "Expanded Practice," Oct. 18 through Dec. 11.
The Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State is located on Curtin Road and admission is free. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. The museum is closed Mondays and some holidays. Extended hours: Thursday, Oct. 6, 13, 20 and 27, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Reduced hours: Saturday, Aug. 13, through Sunday, Aug. 21, noon to 4 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 19, through Sunday, Nov. 27, noon to 4 p.m.; and Saturday, Dec. 17, through Thursday, Dec. 22, noon to 4 p.m. The museum will be closed Thursday, Nov. 24; Friday, Nov. 25; and Friday, Dec. 23, through Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017.
The Palmer Museum of Art receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.