The art colonies of New England played a key role in the
creation of an American national identity in the early 20th
century. Art colonies in Old Lyme and Cos Cob, Connecticut and
Ogunquit and Monhegan, Maine were inspiration for nationally
recognized artists including Edward Hopper, Childe Hassam,
Robert Henri, and George Bellows, among others. Call of the
Coast: Art Colonies of New England will chronicle the
development of impressionist Connecticut and modernist Maine and
features 73 works drawn from the collections of the Portland
Museum of Art and the Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme,
Connecticut. Call of the Coast is on view through October 12,
2009, at the Portland Museum of Art The coast of New England has
long attracted tourists and artists drawn to the primal drama of
the ocean. The 19th century brought changes as coastal
communities shifted from being an industrialized economic
resource to a therapeutic shelter where the middle class enjoyed
leisure time. Artists banded together for purposes of ca