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).

Cafe Brasserie

Art

Street scene with people, cars, storefronts, buildings, signs

Description

We live in a capitalist, consumerist society. Signs and advertisements flood our sightlines, telling us where to go, what to eat, and who to be. Would we know to stop if the bright red octagon didn’t read stop? Would we know the pizza was hot and fresh if the sign did not read "Pizza Hot and Fresh"? As a whole, society has grown accustomed to the direct, in-your-face nature of signage. Could you get to your destination without a sign? Could you identify a lover without a name? One begins to question what is missed if it is not explicitly laid out right in front of them? Are our skills of perception dampened by overstimulation and extreme commercialization? Like a sign, a social mask functions as an identifier. When bombarded by visual stimuli, such as metro stops and cafe signs, a mask makes it faster and easier to identify like individuals. Unless that mask is hiding who one truly is.

Artist Information

Taro Yamamoto

Entry/Object ID

684.Pa83

Artwork Details

Date made: n.d.

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions (h x w): 40 in x 50 in

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type: Signature

Acquisition

Accession: 684

Credit Line: Gift of Stephen Bernstein, 1983