What Kind of Art Can You See at Gleason Fine Art?

Updated

Gleason Fine Art shows two main bodies of work: contemporary art by roughly 35 Maine artists, and early-to-mid 20th-century art that includes named artists and artist estates. If you want to know whether a specific artist or period is represented before you visit Boothbay Harbor, this split is the quickest way to orient yourself.

Contemporary Maine art

The gallery's contemporary roster is built around artists it describes as among Maine's most highly regarded, with Henry Isaacs, Tom Curry, and Kevin Beers given as examples. This is the larger, actively represented side of the gallery — living artists whose work the gallery sells and exhibits on an ongoing basis.

If your interest is current Maine painting and you want to see work by artists the gallery currently represents, this is the category to ask about.

20th-century art

Alongside the contemporary roster, Gleason Fine Art holds what it describes as a deep inventory of early-to-mid 20th-century art. Named examples include:

  • Lynne Drexler
  • James Fitzgerald
  • Abraham Bogdanove

This is a different kind of inventory from the contemporary side: historical work the gallery has acquired rather than artists it represents. If you are looking for a specific 20th-century Maine-connected painter, it is worth asking directly whether that artist is in the current inventory, since historical stock changes as pieces sell.

Artist estates

A third category is estate work — art from the holdings of artists who have died, handled by the gallery as an estate. The gallery names three:

  • Laurence Sisson
  • Martha Groome
  • Dorothy Eisner

Estate material sits between the other two categories: it is historical in the sense that the artist is no longer living, but it is managed as an ongoing representation rather than as one-off acquired inventory.

Summary

Category What it covers Named examples
Contemporary Maine art ~35 represented artists Henry Isaacs, Tom Curry, Kevin Beers
20th-century art Early-to-mid 20th-century inventory Lynne Drexler, James Fitzgerald, Abraham Bogdanove
Artist estates Work handled on behalf of estates Laurence Sisson, Martha Groome, Dorothy Eisner

Seeing the work in person

The gallery is at 31 Townsend Avenue, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538, open Monday through Saturday, 10am–4pm, year-round, and available anytime by appointment. Because inventory in all three categories turns over, the reliable way to confirm a particular artist or piece is to ask before you go rather than assume from the roster above.

Beyond viewing and buying, the gallery also provides appraisal services — Dennis Gleason is a certified member of the Appraisers Association of America — along with conservation, framing, and shipping recommendations, collection and consulting services, and delivery and hanging help. That matters if your interest is in a specific work rather than a general visit: appraisal and consulting are separate services from browsing the exhibition space.