Local History: Painters of the Isles of Shoals

The Isles of Shoals have long been a source of inspiration and study for artists. Childe Hassam, William Morris Hunt, James E. Butterworth, and Mauritz F. de Haas are among the many known for their paintings of the Isles. Christopher Volpe takes us through a history of painted representations of the Isles of Shoals from the Classical European tradition, through Romanticism, Impressionism, and into contemporaneity. This survey of styles and artists allows a glimpse the Isles of Shoals throughout time while providing a history of American landscape painting tradition.

Registration is required. This event is free and open to all. Attend online, or in person in the library’s Levenson Room.

About the Presenter
Originally from Long Island, Christopher Volpe is an artist, writer, and teacher working and living in New Hampshire. His paintings in tar and gold leaf reference mortality, mysticism, and concern for a world buying and spending its way into unsustainability. His work is collected internationally and held in the permanent collections of Smith College and the Whistler House Museum. Grants and awards include the Saint Botolph Club Foundation, MassMoCA/Assests for Artists, and the NH State Council on the Art Artist Advancement Grant. With degrees from the University of New Hampshire and Stony Brook University, he has taught painting, literature, mythology and the history of art at various colleges and universities. He writes regularly about art and artists online and off.