Collection

The Permanent Collection

Our permanent collection includes more than 5,350 works, capturing over a century of artistic vitality in Provincetown and on the Outer Cape.

This database offers a window into that rich legacy and our ongoing efforts to showcase contemporary artists working here. More than 2,700 pieces in our collection lack digital images. Our efforts to digitize the rest of our collection are ongoing; to contribute to this critical project to digitize the PAAM collection, please contact James Robertson, Chief Development Officer, by email at jrobertson@paam.org or visit: paam.org/donate/

COLLECTION IN THE COMMUNITY

PAAM regularly loans work from its permanent collection to community organizations and businesses, expanding public access to and appreciation of these important works of art. Works from the collection can currently be seen at Seamen’s Bank (Provincetown, Truro, and Wellfleet locations), Seashore Point in Provincetown, La Tanzi, Spaulding & Landreth LLP offices in Provincetown and Orleans, and David Marshall Datz, PC office in Provincetown and Orleans. To discuss arranging an artwork loan for your business or organization, please contact PAAM Registrar Madeleine Larson (mlarson@paam.org).

Frenchie's Shack

Art

Shack nestled in the sand, with green hills in the background under a gray sky

Description

A Provincetown resident, Del Deo has been visiting the dune shack that he called “Frenchie’s,” nicknamed after his friend and the original owner, Jeanne “Frenchie” Chanel, for decades. He and his son Romolo rebuilt their iconic shack in the 1970s after it was damaged from a turbulent rainstorm. Del Deo's style and approach to painting landscapes resembles some of the work of Paul Cezanne, especially in the emphasis on horizontal and vertical gestures and the use of color as structure. Although he has some works of town life, Deo admits, “It doesn’t satisfy me. I had to come to the inner core of this crazy land, there’s an anatomy here to this landscape of long horizontals unlike other places.”

Artist Information

Salvatore Del Deo

Entry/Object ID

3227.006.Pa24

Artwork Details

Date made: 1964

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions (h x w): 17-1/2 in x 27-1/2 in

Acquisition

Accession: 3227

Credit Line: Gift of the Del Deo Foundation for the Arts, 2024

Exhibitions

Solitude by the Sea: Selections from the Collection

PAA Second Show (1971)