York Harbor, Coast of Maine - Martin Johnson Heade

Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Herbert A. Vance; Americana, Lacy Armour and Roger McCormick endowments; through prior gifts of Dr. and Mrs. R. Gordon Brown, Emily Crane Chadbourne, George F. Harding Collection, Brooks McCormick, and James S. Pennington

American Art Modern Art Paintings

"York Harbor, Coast of Maine" by Martin Johnson Heade (1877) Oil on canvas.

Commentary

"York Harbor, Coast of Maine" by Martin Johnson Heade (1877) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. Its painted surface guides your eye through color, brushwork, and contrast rather than through narrative alone. Themes to notice include painting. This piece is held in the source collection's Arts of the Americas collection. Martin Johnson Heade is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: Martin Johnson Heade (American, 1819–1904). The work is cataloged within a York Harbor cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as painting, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Oil on canvas) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (38.7 × 76.8 cm (15 1/4 × 30 1/4 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include painting. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/152747

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data