Recent Gifts to the Permanent Collection: Part II

This gallery is the second installment of recent gifts to PAAM’s permanent collection in 2023. This exhibition focuses not on one collector or artist in particular, but highlights some of the greatest strengths of the museum’s growing collection: range, historic impact, and embodiment of Provincetown’s art community.

Some pieces speak to Provincetown directly through their visual language, such as Herman Dudley Murphy’s Fire on the Beach, Cape Cod, which captures the intimate glow of a beach gathering, or Mark Adams’ Blue Swimmers in Eelgrass, a dreamlike vista of bodies in sea-space. Patrick Webb’s Harbor Romance depicts a scene that a Provincetown resident or visitor is likely familiar with: a sole figure staring out into Cape Cod Bay in a moment of relaxation, wistfulness, or contemplation.

Other works are less connected to recognizable Provincetown and Cape Cod imagery, but rather represent salient art historical moments in the area throughout the 20th century. The work of Jim Forsberg and Bob Henry expands the legacy of Hans Hofmann, who opened his art schools in New York in 1934 and Provincetown in 1935, focusing especially on the avant-garde styles of the mid-century. Ed Giobbi studied the color-logic Impressionism of Charles Hawthorne and, later, Henry Hensche in Provincetown. The jewelry on display is indicative of the metalwork styles influenced by New York Abstract Expressionism and post-Bauhaus trends in the 1940s onward.

PAAM is proud to exhibit this group of works from its permanent collection that traces the thematic and stylistic threads of the Provincetown Art Colony, both historic and contemporary.

THE PERMANENT COLLECTION

The permanent collection is an important measure of any museum’s value. At PAAM, the holdings of local and regional art is extensive and dynamic, comprising more than 4,000 works by over 900 artists who have worked in Provincetown and on Cape Cod. The PAAM collection weaves together at least three major art movements—each a significant strand of American art history—and creates perspectives that uniquely position the Provincetown Art Colony as a pertinent fixture to the larger art world.

Each year, PAAM presents at least two exhibitions showcasing some of the recent gifts donated to our permanent collection. As an actively collecting museum, PAAM receives on average nearly 100 new works each year, and these exhibitions allow us to proudly display a selection of those works, some of which represent our first works by an artist in our permanent collection. We extend our deepest gratitude to our new and continuing donors.

Another measure of a museum is how well it uses its collection. The PAAM collection serves as a foundation for many of our educational programs and exhibitions. Programs for both youth and adults in our Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Museum School use collection works to stimulate creativity. The Museum School courses take advantage of gallery exhibitions to clarify principles and techniques. Additionally, major museums and galleries borrow exemplary works for exhibitions around the country.

Image: Patrick Webb (b. 1995), detail of Harbor Romance, oil on canvas, PAAM Collection, Gift of Judith and Richard Wurtman, 2023