REDISCOVERING SAMUEL PETER ROLT TRISCOTT
On View at the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine
From December 14, 2002 to March 9, 2003

By Laurie Meunier Graves

I have been told that artists, especially painters, find much to admire in Maine. The crisp colors of winter, the rocky coast, the deep green forests, and the light draw them here. Because of this, Maine is not only blessed with many artists who come to Maine to live and paint but also with an astonishing number of good art museums.

Samuel Peter Rolt Triscott was an artist who moved to Maine, and at the Portland Museum of Art there is a wonderful exhibition of his work—watercolors, photographs, and a few oil paintings. According to the Museum’s handout, Mr. Triscott was “British by birth…immigrated to the United States in 1871…settled in Massachusetts,” and eventually came to live and paint on Monhegan Island. Mr. Triscott was “captivated by the island’s unique…beauty.” Who can blame him? With its immense cliffs, its jagged shoreline, and its cool forest, Monhegan has “captivated” many artists, most notably Rockwell Kent.

However, Mr. Triscott was the first artist to live on Monhegan in winter as well as summer. Rumor has it that he went there because he had a broken heart, but presumably he wouldn’t have stayed on the island if he hadn’t loved it.

Mr. Triscott’s watercolors are especially good. Most of them are of the shoreline, and many, of course, feature Monhegan Island. The paintings have both great delicacy and great feeling. While they don’t exactly capture the light and the hard lines of the coast, they somehow manage to capture the mood. It’s as though Mr. Triscott was painting an impression (to borrow a term) of the coast rather than the coast itself. Yet at certain times, at dawn and dusk, when the light is either gathering or fading and the rocks and the evergreens lose their edge, everything does indeed look softer.

This is a strong exhibit with many, many fine paintings. Even so, a few do stand out. There’s the abstract A Cloudy Sky, which is done in deep, rich colors; Winter Moonrise at Sunset, where Mr. Triscott caught the rosy glow of the setting sun on the snow; and Sea Smoke, which is dark, gray, and mysterious.

But best of all is how he captured Monhegan Island. There are the grazing sheep, the slant of the small village, the curve of the land, and the dappled mystery of the woods. Looking at these paintings, I couldn’t help wonder if Mr. Triscott was drawn to Monhegan because it reminded him, at least somewhat, of the coastal hinterlands of England. With its cliffs and its open views and the wide sky, Monhegan looks like certain parts of the English coast.

From a historical vantage, his photographs have merit, but in truth they are a little flat. This is true even of the ones he’s painted over; they simply can’t compare with the watercolors.

I must confess that when I heard of this exhibit, I was somewhat less than eager to see yet another collection of landscapes and seascapes. However, as soon as I saw the first painting, my reservations went away. Mr. Triscott’s watercolors reminded me that in the right hands nothing is ever old or trite, and it is certainly a lesson worth remembering.

 

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