‘Nocturne’ at Maine Art Gallery

Autumn, with its waning light, is a perfect time to display fine art that portrays evening or night. For its last exhibition of the 2024 season, the Maine Art Gallery chose autumn to present the work of more than 55 current Maine artists and several of their predecessors who set about to capture the magical realm of nocturne.

“Nocturne” runs from Sept. 12 to Oct. 20. A reception with live music by Jud Caswell will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 14.

Nocturne is a theme that American artists, influenced by James McNeil Whistler’s nocturne series, began exploring in the late 1800s. Depicting the world at night is not only about what you see; it is also about what is obscure, represented in a tonal spectrum ranging from stark to subdued to suppressed.

This exhibition also explores the work of Maine’s photographer poet, Kosti Ruahomaa, whose often surreal, and occasionally abstract, nighttime images illustrate what Andrew Wyeth — a close friend of the photographer — once characterized as “being present at some intimate moment caught at the instant of revelation.” The Penobscot Marine Museum was generous with help and access to their photographic archives.

The Maine Art Gallery is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement and preservation of painting, sculpture and graphic arts through exhibitions, lectures, demonstrations and educational programs for children and adults. The gallery is located at 15 Warren St., Wiscasset. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Visit www.maineartgallerywiscasset.org for details.