Santander Curtis exhibit
A collection of paintings by the late Gloucester artist David P. Curtis will be on view at Santander Bank in Manchester through the end of August. The exhibit comprises about 20 of Curtis’s Plein air paintings.
Curtis was well known throughout New England for his on-the-spot renditions of nature, particularly the regional landscape of Cape Ann’s wetlands, coastline, and vibrant fall foliage. He also focused on capturing area gardens, including his own. Like any landscape, the garden, he said, “is always changing, be it the weather, the effect of light, the time of day, the season. There is always something new to see when painting out-of-doors, even if it is a scene you have rendered many times. The important thing is to get it down quickly before the effect changes.”
By 1992, he adopted the “alla prima” effect (meaning, “all in one moment,” applying the paint thickly to create a viscous surface and then leaving it alone), putting swift brushstrokes down and leaving them alone, so his work took on the American Impressionist look of artists like Rockport painter Aldro T. Hibbard and Willard Metcalf.
Curtis also started teaching, instructing workshops, and drop-in classes in the tradition of Gloucester’s past Master, Emile Gruppé. Curtis taught for some 30 years, encouraging countless students to forego the studio and paint in the heart of nature. In 2019 Curtis received The Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award for his leadership and contribution to the art world.
Although Curtis was not one to travel far afield to paint, a throwback to those early days when he would return to his location time and again to get a refined finish, he did enjoy coming across new material. In the immortal words of The Beatles from My Life, this collection of work represents what Curtis would describe as, “There are places I remember all my life….” Wherever live took him, Curtis felt inspired to capture the places around him with color, brush, and canvas. “All these places have their moments….” – My Life – a fitting tribute to this much-loved artist, who, throughout his career, infused heart, and soul into his work.
Painting was his life.
Through August 31, during bank hours
Santander Bank, 17 Union St., Manchester
