Exhibits
Upcoming Exhibits
2012
Under the Isles of Shoals: Archaeology and Discovery at Smuttynose Island
Historians have long suggested that Native Americans rarely visited the Isles of Shoals, if at all. That myth exploded with the recent discovery of a cache of Indian artifacts dating from 6,000 years ago to colonial times. Prof. Nathan Hamilton, University of Southern Maine, has unearthed 200,000 artifacts in the last four years of his methodical summer “digs” at Smuttynose Island. Fish hooks from the 1600s and the bones of extinct giant cod, for example, offer clues about the profitable commercial fishing industry that drew the very first settlers here.
Never seen before paintings by John Stobart commissioned exclusively for the Isles of Shoals exhibit!
Past Exhibits
2011
Maritime Portsmouth
The Sawtelle Collection exhibition at the Discover Portsmouth Center is a priceless collection of nearly 200 paintings and artifacts, gathered over two decades and never exhibited publicly before. Founded in 1623, Portsmouth is home to sea captains, shipbuilders, craftsmen and patriots. In the Age of Sail, many merchant shipyards flourished alongside the Navy Yard (est. 1800) on the fast-flowing Piscataqua River between Maine and NH. This exhibit is a dramatic reminder of how closely this region is tied to the sea.
City of the Open Door: Harry S. Harlow 2008-2011
Fifty-two paintings by local artist H.M,S. Harlow (1882-1963) of the buildings and doorways of historic Portsmouth and his woodblock prints show many familiar local historic doorways and architectural landmarks. A gift of Jean E. Sawtelle to the Portsmouth Historical Society, together with the artist’s easel, stool and umbrella, the exhibit celebrated the legacy of this interesting character.
China Students' Club of Boston "Fired Up: 75 years of Collecting and Studying Ceramics"
"It's Pastel!" 2011 National Juried Exhibition of the New Hampshire Pastel Society
2010
Bill Paarlberg "Illustrating Portsmouth"
The Portsmouth Historical Society has invited well-known local illustrator Bill Paarlberg to show 30 years worth of his Portsmouth drawings, paintings and graphic design for the month of August, 2010 at the Discover Portsmouth Center. The show will occupy the main gallery at the Center and include some 40 or 50 artworks, many of which can be viewed on Mr. Paarlberg's blog "Illustrating Portsmouth." Dr. Richard Candee, VP of the PHS, extended the invitation, based on Mr. Paarlberg's long career of illustrating local architectural and historic themes.
Richard Haynes "Family of Man- Breaking Stereotypes"
Richard Haynes, Jr. is an award winning local artist and photographer. His new thematic series of paintings can be seen in the Upper Balcony at the Discover Portsmouth Center, 10 Middle Street, every day from 10:00 to 5:00 through September 12.
"Summering in Rye and the NH Seaocast" in collaboration with the Rye Historical Society
"Whaleback Lighthouse: A Wave-Swept Sentinel" Exhibit
Standing on a ledge known as the Whale’s Back in the mouth of Portsmouth Harbor, Whaleback Lighthouse is an off-shore, wave-swept lighthouse that went into service in 1872. This conical, granite tower rises 64 feet from the rock to its lantern deck.1 It is the second lighthouse to stand on the ledge, replacing an earlier granite tower that was built 1829-30. This first successful searock lighthouse was replaced and altered over the course of the 19th century, becoming a visual landmark and favorite scene for painters. A collaboration with the Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, the exhibit supported their campaign to stabilize and restore the structure.
"It's Pastel!" 2010 National Juried Exhibition of the New Hampshire Pastel Society
2009
"Birds, Beasties & Boats: The Legacy of Adams Point" carvings and models from the City's Adams Collection
Captain Edward Adams and his son Cass of Adams Point in Durham created a folk art legacy in wood. They built and sailed the last gundalow on the Piscataqua and, worried about water pollution and the destruction of natural habitat, whittled not only Bellamy eagles and ship models but carved birds, fish and other creatures from the local environment. Cass Adam’s widow gave nearly 200 pieces of their folk art to the city in 1966 but they were not exhibited for more than 20 years. This Discover Portsmouth exhibit was mounted in collaboration with The Gundalow Company, whose ship “The Captain Edward Adams” offers environmental education.
"Changing Portsmouth: The Art of Charles Goodhue and Henry Baluka"
Paintings by artists Charles V. Goodhue (1916-2005) and Henry M. Bakula (1916-2000), who came to the seacoast from Massachusetts and captured the altered city landscape. More than two-dozen oils and watercolors documented how the city changed over the past half century. Goodhue’s quiet and still 1950s watercolors of the city in the collections of the Portsmouth Athenaeum were first shown there in 2001. Bakula painted not only local landmarks but the new social and physical changes to Market Square, Prescott Park and the South End in the 1970s and 80s as homes and businesses were restored.
"It's Pastel!" 2009 National Juried Exhibition of the New Hampshire Pastel Society
2008
Russell Cheney "A New England Master" in collaboration with the Portsmouth Athenaeum
Works from this nationally known impressionist’s early years painted in Maine, Connecticut and Vermont contrasted with his modern works in the 1930s and ‘40s showing rivers, townscapes and portraits of Portsmouth and New Castle, New Hampshire. The Portsmouth Athenaeum exhibit focused on interior, exterior and still lifes of the Cheney and F.O. Matthiessen home and studio they occupied from 1927 to Cheney’s death in 1945, together with landscapes of southern Maine.
Peter Randall "New Hampshire Then & Now: Historical and Contemporary Photographs of the Granite State"
What is New Hampshire? It means many things to many people. The New Hampshire Historical Society’s traveling exhibition of 80 black & white and color, framed 8”x10”photographs show the unique places, people and events that depict the character and culture of New Hampshire, past and present. Based on the book of the same title, New Hampshire Then & Now, by photographer, author and publisher Peter E. Randall, the exhibition and related programs gives a diverse visual overview of New Hampshire, comparing sites and people across the state, between the late 19th century and today.
Artists and organizations exhibiting on the balcony include: