What I Did Last Summer: The artwork of Adele Lemm, 1957

On view February 11, 2022 - March 26, 2022  

Curated by Leslie Luebbers, Ph.D.

Adele Lemm and her family, as usual, migrated from Memphis to the New England coast during the summer of 1957.  That year she spent some weeks on tiny Monhegan Island, a carless, remote rock 10 miles into the Atlantic from the Maine coast.  She left behind news of Hurricane Audrey’s southern ravages and the frightening stateside arrival of the pandemic Asian flu.  We can imagine Adele, with paints, paper and brushes, roaming breezy hills overlooking the sea and forests alight with slanting sun.  Perhaps she sat under a convenient tree while memorializing these episodes of grace.  Adele’s characteristic economy of strokes describes trees and other geographic and biologic facts with washes and dashes of watercolor infusing each image with wafts of fresh air and casual delight—refreshment for the soul.