The Heckscher Museum has lent four pieces from our collection to The Long Island Museum, including two pieces by Arthur Dove, one by Thomas Moran, and one by Robert Motherwell, to be featured in the exhibition The Power of Two: Artist Couples of Long Island, which will be open through June 30th.
The show explores artistic practice as a means of communication, and how this shared language creates a special bond between artists. They gravitate toward one another, forming schools, clubs, and colonies where they can experiment, explore, critique, and debate with a common understanding that eludes the layperson. These associations, both formal and informal, have produced groundbreaking artist movements, and amongst couples, the shared experience encompasses all aspects of life.
Specifically considering Long Island Artists, it explores how artists couples have created in tandem, establishing Long Island as a place that nurtures artistic partnership. This exhibition features over 50 artworks comparing and contrasting the work produced by 14 artist couples of Long Island, from the Morans in the 1880s through contemporary couples working today.
The artist couple Arthur Dove and Helen Torr have a special place in The Heckscher’s collection. Our recent exhibition Salt Life: Arthur Dove and Helen Torr marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of The Heckscher’s preservation of their 500-square-foot home in Centerport, NY, the Dove/Torr Cottage, which they purchased in 1938. This show highlighted the couple’s connection to nature, their experimentation with materials and techniques, and the impacts of Dove’s declining health in their art, which are all themes the Long Island Museum continues to explore in their exhibition. The Heckscher loaned two pieces by Arthur Dove to the Long Island Museum, Untitled, Centerport #2 (1941) and Moonrise (1941).
For the couple Mary Nimmo and Thomas Moran, The Heckscher loaned Moran’s work Stormy Skies, Long Island (1885), and for the couple Robert Motherwell and Helen Frankenthaler, The Hecksher lent Motherwell’s work Untitled (1966). Learn about these artist couples and more at The Power of Two: Artist Couples of Long Island at The Long Island Museum, on view through June 30th.
