Touching on Water - Paintings by Thomas Paquette at the Rockwell Museum

touching on water

paintings by thomas paquette

The Rockwell Museum

touching on water

paintings by thomas paquette The Rockwell Museum Corning, New York January 23 - March 29, 2015

Catalogue for the exhibition organized by The Rockwell Museum, Corning, New York “Touching on Water: Paintings by Thomas Paquette” January 23 - March 29, 2015 The Rockwell Museum: an engaging place that ignites imagination, challenges perspectives and fosters conversation through art about America. rockwellmuseum.org Published by Eyeful Press P.O. Box 191, Warren, Pennsylvania, 16365-0191 USA eyefulpress.com Publication date: January 2015 Copyright © 2015 by Thomas Paquette thomaspaquette.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical or photographic, without prior written permission from the publisher.

THIS IS AN ABRIDGED ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE BOOK 100-page print copies are available from publisher: books@eyefulpress.com

Touching on Water

Foreword

by Kirsty Harper Buchanan

Paintings by Thomas Paquette

9

Oil paintings

13

Goauche paintings

43

Biography

94

A note

99

5

foreword

Touching on Water

by Kirsty Harper Buchanan Curator of Collections The Rockwell Museum

In a culture where bigger is often viewed as more important, many of the works of Thomas Paquette stand in contradiction to this commercial notion. In addition to his primary focus in oil painting, Paquette is also well known for his gouache works on paper. The surprising nature of those works comes not from the subject matter or technique employed but rather from the size. The majority of the gouaches are shockingly small – most no larger than the palm of your hand. Unexpected as well is the fact that the images of the gouaches included in this catalog have been reproduced at their actual size.

The uniquely small gouaches of this celebrated artist are engaging in their sheer dimensions. The works physically draw us to them by necessity, their size demanding a close proximity in order to truly be seen. The diminutive stature of each work instigates audience movement, prompting us to move closer to the work and into a shared spatial context. Once within the viewer’s “personal space” the magnetic little paintings have now created an opportunity for direct engagement with their audience. In this age of fabricated concepts and monumental installations, the power inherent in Paquette’s beautiful gouaches is their ability to cultivate an intimate setting and then personally invite us to share it with them.

6

Touching on Water, organized by The Rockwell Museum, features both the unique gouache as well as large-format oil paintings of Paquette.

The artist’s notable body of oil paintings are a striking contrast in scale to the previously mentioned gouache works featured in this exhibition. Paquette addresses through both media the element of water within the natural environment. Water is celebrated here as a fundamental component of the land: it sustains life both vegetal and animal. Without it there would be no landscape. This theme of water as sustainer also serves to unite the subject matter with its audience, for without water there would be no viewer. Human beings and the earth they inhabit are inextricably linked as dependents upon water, and Paquette pays homage to this life-giving force through his expertlyrendered oil and gouache works. The necessity of water to the existence of the works of art themselves is imbedded within the artist’s choice of medium. Gouache, being an incarnation of watercolor, inherently owes its existence to water as well.

The landscapes curated for this exhibition are almost entirely void of any human reference. They are pure studies of land and water in their most untouched state. Except for the rare inclusion of a road or power line, there is virtually no evidence of civilization which has been incorporated. These compositional choices, whether consciously or subconsciously executed, express Paquette’s sense of conservation. His paintings focus our attention on the trees and the forests and the rivers – and not on human manipulation of the earth. It is not until we seek similar scenes of nature in our own lives that we realize the difficulty in finding such untouched expanses of pristine beauty in the modern wilderness. The lack of human influence in Paquette’s landscape paintings serves to encourage us to tread lightly and leave no mark.

7

oil paintings

Interlude of Light, 2011, oil on linen, 30 x 46 inches

10

Precipice, 1999, oil on wood panel, 10-1/4 x 8-3/4 inches

Low Sun, Mt. Desert Island, 2002, oil on canvas, 30 x 64 inches

Hidden River, 2007, oil on linen, 36 x 46 inches

Ebullient River, 2007, oil on linen, 35 x 25 inches

13

14

Hull’s Falls on the Ausable, 2008, oil on linen, 16 x 12 inches

Sky Ascending, 2008, oil on linen, 36 x 46 inches

[Final] Harper’s Ferry, 2011, oil on wood panel, 13 x 15 inches

Kaaterskill Falls and Tree, 2008, oil on linen, 22 x 24 inches

Original Highway, 2011, oil on linen, 28 x 34 inches

Keyhole Falls, 2011, oil on linen, 22 x 16 inches

19

20

Derwentwater, Cumbrian Sky, 2014, oil on linen, 42 x 30 inches

Moose River II, 2011, oil on linen, 12 x 16 inches

Interlude of Light I, 2014, oil on paper mounted on board, 3-3/4 x 5-3/4 inches

River View II, 2012, oil on linen, 28 x 40 inches

River View I, 2012, oil on wood panel, 14 x 18 inches

Power, 2014, oil on wood panel, 14 x 10 inches

Sun Play, Mesa Lane Beach, 2015, oil on wood panel, 14 x 10 inches

River Island study, 2015, oil on linen, 5 x 12-1/2 inches

27

Moonrise with Wires, 2012, oil on paper mounted on board, 3-3/4 x 3 inches

28

A Brilliant Moment, 2014, oil on paper mounted on board, 4-1/2 x 4-1/2 inches

29

30

Sky Befalling, 2005, oil on linen, 38 x 66 inches

31

32

gouache paintings

34

Sky Pond, 1993, gouache, 6-3/4 x 3-1/2 inches

Emerald Lake, 1993, gouache, 5-1/4 x 6-1/4 inches

35

Wolfe’s Neck Point, 1992, gouache, 2-1/2 x 3-1/8 inches

36

Veil of Snow, 1992, gouache, 1-1/4 x 1-3/4 inches

37

The Earth’s Eye, 1995, gouache, 2-7/8 x 2-1/2 inches

38

Retreating Sea, 2001, gouache, 2-1/4 x 3-1/2 inches

39

Rocky Coast, 2002, gouache, 2-7/8 x 4 inches

40

Watercourse at Dusk, 2002, gouache, 2-1/4 x 3-1/2 inches

41

Guardians of Light, 2004, gouache, 3-1/2 x 2-7/8 inches

42

Cherry Valley Creek, 2003, gouache, 2-3/4 x 1-5/8 inches

43

Stacked Mountains, 2007, gouache, 2-3/4 x 2-3/8 inches

44

Grizzly Creek IV, 2007, gouache, 2-7/8 x 3-5/8 inches

45

Plain above Placid, 2009, gouache, 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 inches

46

Lower Penobscot River, 2006, gouache, 2-3/4 x 4-3/8 inches

47

Arrangement of Trees, 2010, gouache, 3 x 2-1/2 inches

48

Mud Puddle, Wales, 2006, gouache, 2-3/4 x 2 inches

49

Kaaterskill Falls, 2008, gouache, 2-7/8 x 3-1/8 inches

50

River View with Ash, 2012, gouache, 2-5/8 x 3-7/8 inches

51

Morning Creek III, 2010, gouache, 4-5/8 x 3-1/8 inches

52

biography

Thomas Paquette was born in Minneapolis and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from Bemidji State University, from which he graduated summa cum laude.

He holds a MFA in Painting from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, which he attended on a full fellowship. Prior to that, he spent a few years hitchhiking and riding freight trains across the continent, experiencing some of the landscapes that he now paints full-time.

His paintings have been the subject of more than fifty solo exhibitions in museums and galleries across the country, and have been selected for exhibition at sixteen U.S. Embassies on five continents. A large exhibition of his work, On Nature’s Terms: Paintings

by Thomas Paquette commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, traveled to museums in California, Indiana, and New York in 2014 and 2015.

Thomas lives in northwestern Pennsylvania with his artist/ musician wife, Ellen, and a cat and a dog, who for increased security reasons will remain nameless.

53

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

54

Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY, “Touching on Water” (one artist) Evansville Museum of Art and Science, Evansville, IN, “On Nature’s Terms” (one artist) Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, (one artist) U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia Wildling Art Museum, Solvang, CA, “On Nature’s Terms” (one artist) Quick Center for the Arts, St. Bonaventure, NY, “On Nature’s Terms” (one artist) Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (one artist) Groveland Gallery, Minneapolis, MN (one artist) U.S. Embassy in Libreville, Gabon Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME (one artist) Groveland Gallery, Minneapolis, MN (one artist) Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Winona, MN, “The Raging Red and the Mighty Mississippi” U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan U.S. Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Jamestown, NY (one artist) Windham Fine Arts, Windham, NY (one artist) Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, ME (one artist) D. Wigmore Fine Art, New York, NY, “Adirondack Art Today” U.S. Embassy in Brazzaville Minnetonka Center for the Arts, Wayzata, MN (one artist) Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA (one artist) Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (one artist) Roberson Museum, Binghamton, NY “Visions of the Susquehanna” (traveling) Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, New Castle, PA (one artist) Élan Fine Arts, Rockport, ME (one artist) Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA (one artist) Governor’s Residence, Harrisburg, PA, “Visions of the Susquehanna” (traveling) Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (one artist) Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA, “Visions of the Susquehanna” (traveling) Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA, “Visions of the Susquehanna” (traveling) U.S. Interests Section (U.S. Embassy) in Havana, Cuba Somerville Manning Gallery, Greenville, DE, (one artist) Jameson Gallery, Portland, ME (one artist) Seton Hill University, Greensburg, PA (one artist) U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1998

1997

1996

1994

1993

1991

1990

Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA (one artist) Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, PA, “Along the Lincoln Highway” Jameson Gallery, Portland, ME (one artist) Flanders Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, MN (one artist) American Institute, Taipei, Taiwan U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT (one artist) Crary Art Gallery, Warren, PA (one artist) Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, MN, “Defining a Collection: Recent Art Acquisitions” U.S. Embassy in St. Petersburg, Russia, “Natural America” Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Vienna, Austria Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA (one artist) Aucocisco Gallery, Portland, ME (one artist) Gleason Fine Art, Camden, ME (one artist) The Museum of Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, IL (one artist) Flanders Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, MN (one artist) American Academy in Rome, Italy (studio exhibition - solo) U.S. Embassy in Rome, Italy (selected) Flanders Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, MN (one-artist) U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile, “Maine Light” Maine State Capitol, Augusta, ME (one-artist) Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY (one-artist) Lydon Fine Art, Chicago, IL (one-artist) Mahler Gallery, Washington, DC (one-artist) Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, ME (one-artist) Mahler Gallery, Washington, DC (one-artist) University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME (one-artist) Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL, “Three National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Fellows” MC Gallery, Minneapolis, MN (one-artist)

RESIDENCIES / FELLOWSHIPS

2011 2006 2005 2004 2000

Artist Residency, Blue Mountain Center, Blue Mountain Lake, NY American Artist Abroad, U.S. Department of State and U.S. Embassy in Athens Special Opportunity Stipend, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Residency, Robert M. MacNamara Foundation, Westport Island, Maine Visiting Artist Residency, American Academy in Rome, Italy 55

1999 Guest Artist, Aegean Arts and Cultural Exchange, Greece 1999 Visiting Artist, Plymouth University, Exeter, England 1999 Visiting Artist, University of Wales, Cardiff, Wales 1998 Travel Grant, John Anson Kittredge Educational Fund 1997 Artist-in-Residence, Yosemite National Park 1994 Artist-in-Residence, Acadia National Park 1993 Artist-in-Residence, Rocky Mountain National Park 1993 Shep Forest Fellowship Residency, Millay Colony for the Arts 1989-91 Fellowship and Residency, National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, Miami 1985-88 Full Graduate Fellowship, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

COLLECTIONS Acadia National Park Museum Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp Beach Museum of Art Bank of America Brinton Museum L.L. Bean Carlson School of Management Cigna Museum Colby College Commerce Bancshares Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers Cunard Lines – Queen Mary II Erie Art Museum Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Fidelity Investments Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum Holland America Ministry of Economics, Taiwan, R.O.C. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Minnesota Historical Society Mint Museum of Art Morgan Stanley Smith Barney National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts New Britain Museum of American Art PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance

Portland Museum of Art Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History Southern Illinois University Museum SPX Corporation State of Maine State of Minnesota State of Montana TD Banknorth Thomson Financial U.S. Department of State [Loans to U.S. Embassies in Amman, Jordan; Georgetown, Guyana; Brazzaville, Congo; Havana, Cuba; Athens, Greece (twice); Taipei, Taiwan; Vienna, Austria; St. Petersburg, Russia; Rome, Italy; Santiago, Chile; San Salvador, El Salvador; Riga, Latvia; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; N’Djamena, Chad] U.S. Department of State, Libreville permanent collection U.S.T., Inc UNUM Susquehanna Heritage Region, Susquehanna Art Collection Wells Fargo Westmoreland Museum of American Art Western Illinois University Wildling Art Museum Yosemite National Park Museum