Series of Six in the Guggenheim Series by Portland Artist Rush Brown Currently at the Maine Jewish Museum, 67 Washington Avenue.

Stylish Fask Masks are Available at the Museum Pop-up, Made by Karen Gerson, for a Donation. This Favorite Mask Modeled by Yours Truly Has Depictions of the Women of the Supreme Court.

A Panel in the Guggenheim Series by Rush Brown Currently at the Pop-up Maine Jewish Museum Show, 67 Washington Avenue, Portland.

The First in the Guggenheim Series is a Solitary Man Viewing Art From the Round Balconies Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

“I paint whatever is out the window,” said Rush Brown recently, a Portland landscape artist referring to the many oils and acryclics he has painted of the Portland waterfront over the years and for which he is well known everywhere.

Brown once lived just off India Street, but when the view was lost due to development,  he moved to another part of Portland.  In his new home he has a waterfront view again. That allows him to work on a painting of Ft. Gorges which he can see from his home – Ft. Gorges and other projects.

But he has a special interest in painting human figures.  Some of them are the focus of an exhibit Brown currently has –  the Guggenheim Series – at the Maine Jewish Museum Pop-up,  67 Washington Avenue, in the former J. J. Nissen building.

The focus of each panel is a person or people enjoying abstract art from the famous circular balconies of the New York City museum whose architect was the then radical architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Growing up in New Canaan, Connecticut, near New York City, Brown enjoyed many opportunities to visit all manner of museums.  And his mother took him to many of them.  Most memorable to Brown was the  famous Guggenheim on Fifth Avenue they visited on countless occasions Brown said.   She introduced young Rush to many of the great artists on these excursions including Van gogh and his  ear incident.  In these museums,  Brown developed an interest in people’s body language as he watched others enjoying great art – that in later years became a focal point of many of his paintings.

This group of six panels is part of a much larger group that Brown exhibited a few years ago at the Maine Jewish Museum in its permanent location on Congress Street.  These six are back by popular demand.  Stop by and enjoy them immensely yourselves as did mhn.com recently. To treat yourself to viewing more Rush Brown art work, please visit:  rushbrown.com

The Pop-up Museum at 67 Washington Avenue is looking forward to another Opening Day on Thursday, August 13th, from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm.  This exhibit runs through September 12, 2020.

Munjoy Hill resident Lin Lisberger will be the special guest sculptor who wrote in a statement that she is drawn to “spaces between and what it means to be sandwiched in physically and emotionally.  Those spaces are difficult to capture because they have strong inward aspects, but the sense of having two outsides, like slices of bread, has led me to make carved sandwiches..”  Lisberger is a sculptor who taught at the University of Southern Maine Art Department from 1981 – 2017.  Her work is currently on exhibit at “Cove Street Arts.”  She is married to developer Peter Bass.

The pop-up museum hours are:  Open Tuesday – Friday from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm; Saturday from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. It is closed on Sunday & Monday.  Masks are required for entry and pls. maintain 6 feet of social distancing. Private viewings by appointment.  For more, please call Nancy Davidson, Curator, at 207 – 239-4774. Admission to the pop-up Museum is Free.

For more background information on this temporary pop-up Museum at the J. J. Nissen Building, please view post herein dated July 16, 2020