TidesNet—Online Collections Entry Detail

DescriptionOne of two mid-19th century drawings by American artist Martin Johnson Heade of the Passamaquoddy Bay area in the collections of the Tides Institute. Both came from the Spanierman Gallery in New York City, one directly from the gallery and one after the gallery had closed. The drawing shown here shows a shoreline scene near St. George, New Brunswick. It dates to the early 1860s. Heade was born in Lumberville, Pennsylvania in 1819 and developed an interest in art at an early age. His early works from the 1840s were mostly portraits. But soon afterwards, he began to travel to Europe as well as travel within the United States. Some of his early work was exhibited in Philadelphia in 1841 and New York in 1843. Around this time, he became acquainted with the Hudson River School of artists and that led to his interest in landscape painting, an interest that stayed with him through the rest of his life. He became attracted to the Maine coast and it was fairly easy to come to this coast even more remote parts of it like Eastport and Passamaquoddy Bay by way of existing regularly scheduled steamship service from Boston. In addition to several drawings that he did while in the Passamaquoddy Bay region, Heade also did at least one large painting. Heade is best known for his landscape paintings of New England salt marshes and coastal views as well as detailed scenes of tropical birds and flower blossoms. In 1883, Heade married and moved to St. Augustine, Florida. Henceforth this paintings focused on Florida landscapes and flowers, particularly magnolias. He died in 1904. His paintings are now found in the collections of major art museums throughout the United States. Artist: Martin Johnson Heade Medium: Drawing Dimensions: 8-3/4" x 11-1/2" Classification: Drawings Circa: 1860 Old Accession Number: 191 Drawing. Martin Johnson Heade. St. George, Passamaquoddy Bay, New Brunswick, c.1860. Purchased from Spanierman Gallery, New York City in 2005 for $7,500.00