Coolidge Center flaunts figurative works

The Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion is a 40-room colonial home clad in mustard yellow clapboards on the edge of Little Harbor in Portsmouth. The grounds around the former home of New Hampshire’s first royal governor, Benning Wentworth, are decorated with purple lilacs that are descendants of the first European stock imported. The property, before being left to the state, last belonged to the family of John Templeman Coolidge, an artist.

With scenery like this, it’s no wonder local artists are often celebrated for picturesque landscape paintings. But the current exhibition on the property at the Coolidge Center for the Arts is a deviation from that. Dody Kolb, director of the Coolidge Center gallery, says, “In this part of New England, we have such magnificent landscapes that sometimes the body itself is overlooked.”

“Bodyworks” is an array of figurative works by 11 award-winning artists: Jayne Adams, Chris Augusta, George Augusta, Sean Beavers, Christopher Cook, Kate Doyle, Stan Moeller, Lisa Scontras Noonis, Dennis Perrin, Rose Theriault and Ann Tolson.

George Augusta is known for his portraits in oil or pastel in a traditional impressionist style, perhaps most notably one of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter that hangs in The White House. But he also paints both landscapes and figure studies. His studio is in West Newbury, Mass. and he was a student of the Boston School, which has its roots in classical painting and French impressionism.

His painting, “Woman on a Beach,” is a beautiful but blurry memory of an overcast day. The woman’s features and even her sea green swimsuit are soft and suggested, leaving much to the imagination. At $3,500, it’s one of the pricier pieces in the show.   

His son is an accomplished wildlife artist. Chris Augusta grew up in New England and spent many of his formative years along the coast. He is now based in Waldoboro, Maine. He learned traditional drawing and painting from his father, but tends toward more detailed studies.

His paintings on display in this new show combine figure study with wildlife. “The Empath” is based on the legend of Dorthea, a woman who is said to have lived in a remote part of Belize in a thatched hut open to the elements and creatures of the jungle. She is shown smoking beside one of her stray cats, surrounded by the color of dried mushrooms. More menacing animals blend into the lush background, but she is empathetic to all life.   

Other highlights include two ballerina paintings by Lisa Noonis. One is matte and the other glossy; both are marked by a thick brushstroke. Two of Stan Moeller’s paintings are also remarkable. One, called “Courtyard Stroll,” is of a woman in a black dress and strappy shoes walking away at the right side of the canvas, which has hues of blue and purple. Another, “Lucia,” is of a young woman with her arms crossed and a somewhat somber look in a shadowy room. It is reminiscent of John Singer Sargent’s “Mrs. John J. Chapman,” though more current.

Dennis Perrin’s paintings are classic nudes draped in colorful cloth, while Carl Austin Hyatt’s perfect partial nudes are in black and white photography. Rose Theriault’s pen drawings of nudes from life are overlapping outlines on a polymer that light filters through. Also predominately black and white, Kate Doyle’s large charcoal and pastel drawings contain a lusty look of longing and figures lurking in the dark distance.

Jayne Adams presents a dominantly green set of paintings of boys in trees dappled in sunlight and a blue set of beach scenes. Both have the feel of lazy days of summer. Also bright are Ann Tolson’s acrylics, which portray modern characters in daily activities with color-block backgrounds.

Christopher Cook has a powerful digital print on display called “The Tower” in which the lower half looks like a convoluted war scene with bodies of combined eras piled on top of each other. He also has several sculptures of abstract bronze figures on stone, rounding out the eclectic exhibit with three-dimensional bodies. 

‘Bodyworks’ will be on display through July 20 at the Coolidge Center for the Arts, 375 Little Harbor Road, Portsmouth, 603-436-6607.