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New additions to the permanent collection at Toledo’s Yaquina River Museum of Art are available to view throughout May.
Housed within the 1887 Schoolhouse Exhibit Space, the collection features a wide variety of subjects and media by 12 regional artists
The Yaquina Museum of Art was founded by the late Toledo oil painter Michael Gibbons, with the mission to collect, preserve, study, interpret and exhibit significant artworks relating to the Yaquina River Watershed region of Oregon.
“With a primary focus on accomplished artists who have drawn inspiration from this region, we are building a body of significant artworks that will serve and as painted history for generations.” Gibbons said.
Marilyn Murdoch, of Murdoc Collections Gallery in Portland, has gifted the collection with a 1988 oil painting, “Reflections of Hot Lake” which represents the early Michael Gibbons’ style of quick and gestural brush strokes, captures the natural vegetation during a hot October day at a location 10 miles from LaGrande.
Also available for first time viewing, a unique oil painting by David McCosh from the 1960s, gifted by former YRMA Chairman, Tom Ing, is an example of the highly original Oregon landscapes he explored with a directness and sense of personal discovery.
“Learning to paint is learning to see,” McCosh said, “Not to recognize only familiar things.”
He taught at the University of Oregon from 1934 until his retirement in 1970. His drawings and paintings demonstrate a style based on energy and emotional engagement and through his kind and dedicated teaching, he influenced many Oregon painters.
“Mountain View,” by Dick VanReyper, is a small watercolor donated by Michael and Judy Gibbons illustrating the artist’s ability to capture the landscape through minimal brushstrokes. Plein air artists master skills at recording their observations while living in their environments, and their work reflects a fresh and honest interpretation of their subjects.
Don Prechtel’s painting “Fishing Boat” comes from his time living in Newport, although the body of his work is about America’s western heritage. This fine oil painting was donated by the artist.
Through presenting exhibitions like “New Additions — Permanent Collection,” YRMA provides related educational services for the purpose of increasing and enriching public knowledge through periodic exhibitions of its collections.
The Yaquina River Museum of Art, located at 151 NE Alder Street, will be open from noon to 4 pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
For more information, go to www.yaquinarivermuseumofart.org or call 541-336-1907.