ART

A Visit to the Dylan Lewis Sculpture Garden in South Africa

March 15, 2023

By Ricardo and Diana Fernandez

A wonderful attribute of our professional retirement is having time to travel to far-flung parts of the world. Last fall we embarked on a tour of the Stellenbosch region of Southern Africa, sponsored by noted landscape designer Karen Chapman, with stops in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Botswana.

We both enjoy our garden in Beverly, Massachusetts but can only grow what is compatible with the New England climate. The tour to Southern Africa took us into a world of gardens unlike any we had ever seen in our horticultural experience. The itinerary placed an emphasis on unique gardens and the fynbos natural landscape, and included visits to wineries, rivers, and safaris.

The James Collection—
Coming Home

By Chris Munkholm

September 6, 2023

This September 2023, a triumvirate of world class art is occupying the main galleries of Cape Ann Museum, in Gloucester Massachusetts. The stellar Edward Hopper and Stuart Davis exhibits are joined, across the hall from Hopper, by a group of artists, many of whom both worked with and knew Hopper and Davis and who populate museums the world over: Coming Home, Selections from the Janet & William Ellery James Collection. Included in the exhibition are 33 works—a small fraction of the 300-plus artworks collected over the years by Janet and William Ellery “Wilber” James—all promised gifts to the Cape Ann Museum of Art in Gloucester. …

Jeff Weaver:
Witness to Gloucester

By Chris Munkholm

March 8, 2023

The following portrait of Jeff Weaver reflects a recent interview, when the artist generously shared his collection of memories from fifty years of life in Gloucester, a city and terrain now distilled into his large body of artwork. This subsequent COSMOS feature article seeks to understand the man behind the canvases. And to appreciate the artistic explorations which now converge into this advanced stage of his career and the pending solo exhibition at Cape Ann Museum. —CM

It is Saturday afternoon at 16 Rogers Street, where Jeff Weaver holds court from a corner in his gallery. People drift in and out of the space, a mix of old friends and passersby, with Jeff engaging all in relaxed conversations. The gallery, situated in the heart of Gloucester with a short walk to Café Sicilia, exists in a building that once reached all the way to the harbor before being transected by the construction of Rogers Street. …

Vincent Castagnacci,
Then and Now

By Joy Buell, with Chris Munkholm

August 15, 2022

When I first heard that Cape Ann Museum was staging a major exhibition for Vincent Castagnacci, I was more than intrigued. I once knew Vincent when we were both students at the Boston Museum School.  He was from Rhode Island, had studied architecture for a bit, and was passionate about symphonic conductors. Especially Toscanini. We both admired Eleanor Barry, a beloved design teacher and serious birder. …

To Ipswich in Search of Arthur Wesley Dow

By Bing McGilvray with Joy Buell

June 22, 2022

A glorious June afternoon, Spring in full bloom, overcast but balmy, a perfect day for a joy ride. There is no nicer journey, while staying close to home, than to picturesque Ipswich. One of the earliest English settlements, established in 1634, Ipswich is rich in history and takes preservation seriously. With many beautifully restored, period houses, all within walking distance of each other, it is the ideal destination for a day trip. Joy and I were on a mission though: to find out more about the artist Arthur Wesley Dow (1857-1922), whose centennial was being celebrated. One hundred years since he slipped his mortal coil. …