ARTICLE
As one of the region’s most innovative art museums, the Cahoon Museum of American Art presents historical and contemporary art exhibitions in the landmark Crocker House in Cotuit, MA. The Museum welcomes visitors of all ages to learn about art and art history, enjoy fun, family-friendly events, delight in creative programming, and embrace the enduring story of the important folk artists Ralph and Martha Cahoon. For the 2025 season, the museum opens with the following exhibits: Still Life Stories: Beauty, Bounty, and Reflection March 19 – June 8 This group exhibition celebrates the vitality of the still life tradition and its themes of beauty, bounty, and fleeting moments. Still Life Stories features paintings from the Cahoon Museum’s permanent collection -lush florals and fruits by Edward Chalmers Leavitt, Marie LeValley, Levi Wells Prentice and others- surrounded by striking examples of the genre by contemporary local and regional artists. Still life paintings emphasize the artist’s skill in realistically rendering details, texture, and imbuing life-like qualities into a two-dimensional form. Still lifes often convey stories or deeper meaning, such as a reflection on impermanence. Still Life Stories includes many types of this genre such as floral bouquets, bountiful food and banquet images, animals, and symbolism. Featured artists include Deborah Carter, Martha Cahoon, Ralph Cahoon, Nicole Duennebier, Valerie Hegarty, Marie LeValley, Edward Chalmers Leavitt, Brad Nelson, James Peale, Levi Wells Prentice, Larry Preston, Scott Prior, Shelley Reed, Severin Roesen, Curtis Speer, Eric Wert, and Abbie Lowella Zuill. This exhibition is made possible by a former Cahoon Museum Trustee. John Enneking: American Impressionist March 19 – August 31 Enneking is often credited as “America’s first Impressionist”. His continued studies with the great impressionists of Europe influenced the development of his personal style, nurtured his love of nature, and reinforced his drive as a professional artist. He brought these teachings back with him to the United States where he painted in Boston and throughout greater region. Discover New England in a new light through Enneking’s bubbling trout brooks, thickly forested landscapes, solitary clam diggers, and his favorite subject: the brilliant New England twilight. Celebrated during his time as “one of the world’s greatest landscape painters,” the Cahoon Museum is proud to present our collection of six John Enneking paintings alongside significant loans illustrating his many studies in Europe, his passion for nature conservation, and his advocacy for a truly American art style. The exhibition also reunites the artist with those whom he worked alongside and inspired while living and working in Boston, including the young Martha Cahoon. This exhibition is made possible by a former Cahoon Museum Trustee Martha Cahoon: A Garden of Inspiration March 19 – December 21 Many artists take inspiration from nature and Martha Cahoon was no exception. The Cahoon Museum invites you to take an intimate look into the inspirations behind Martha’s widely appealing painted furniture and easel paintings. Martha Cahoon loved nature. Over the course of her long career, she came to be admired by many for her sensitive pastoral landscapes and masterful painted furniture designs. But the roots of Martha’s artistic interest in nature run even deeper. She cultivated inspiration from gardening, spending time in nature, and studying the floral motifs of Swedish folk design. Martha Cahoon: A Garden of Inspiration highlights Martha’s repeated use of floral motifs through her expertly painted furniture and the easel paintings she became known for. The exhibition both celebrates and chronicles how Martha’s artistic voice blossomed over time. This exhibition is made possible by Ellen Barnes Pfiffner in celebration of 50 years of friendship with her sisters of Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority For more information about these exhibits and related programming, please visit www.cahoonmuseum.org