On Saturday, Feb. 29, the Farnsworth Art Museum in downtown Rockland will open the second of its Maine 200 exhibitions. Entitled “Eliot Porter: All the Wild Places,”  this exhibition will be on display in the museum’s Crosman Gallery through Jan. 3, 2021. To celebrate Maine’s bicentennial, the Farnsworth is unveiling a series of exhibitions throughout the winter and spring under the banner, First to Hail the Rising Sun: Maine Through the Eyes of its Artists.

Drawn from the Farnsworth’s collection and loans from the Porter family, this exhibition explores the work of photographer Eliot Porter (1901-1990) who introduced color to landscape photography. In so doing, he created a new way of viewing the world that today has become commonplace. An artist with strong scientific and environmental interests, Porter first took up color in his bird photography, expanding his subject matter, and building a reputation based on thousands of richly hued prints and some 30 large-format books of his essays and photographs.

His work has energized environmentalists, has drawn accolades from museums, and created the foundations for today’s color nature photography. He had a lifelong connection to Maine, having spent every summer since childhood with his family on Great Spruce Head Island, a place that first inspired his interest in photography. The exhibition and accompanying catalogue are organized and written by Farnsworth Curator Jane Bianco.

In 2020, on the occasion of Maine’s bicentennial, the Farnsworth Art Museum will present a series of projects that celebrate the state’s ongoing role in American art. Under the banner First to Hail the Rising Sun: Maine Through the Eyes of its Artists, these projects will include both specific exhibitions as well as a series of audio tours throughout the museum’s galleries that will enable visitors to explore Maine through the Farnsworth’s nationally renowned collection.

The included exhibitions will be: “Transforming the Ordinary: Women in American Book Cover Design;”  “Elliot Porter: All the Wild Places;”  “Andrew Wyeth: A Maine Legacy;” and “George Tice and Andrew Wyeth: Parallel Visions.”  In addition, in collaboration with Rizzoli Electa, the museum will publish a new book on its holdings, “Maine and American Art: The Farnsworth Art Museum,” to be released on Tuesday, March 31 at a release and book signing event at Rizzoli, 1133 Broadway in New York City. Funding for First to Hail the Rising Sun: Maine Through the Eyes of its Artists is provided by Camden National Bank, the Premier Sponsor of our bicentennial programs; and by donors to our exhibition development and education fund.

For more information, visit https://www.farnsworthmuseum.org