‘Picturing Long Island’ Opens

 At Heckscher Museum Feb. 3

2col Constantino

Joe Constantino, “The Barn at Mattituck,” 1997, photograph, silver gelatin print from infrared negative, 16 by 20 inches, gift of the artist.

2col Moran

Edward Moran, “Long Island Seascape,” undated, chalk and charcoal on brown paper, 18 by 24 inches, gift of Miriam N. Godofsky.

1col Scholl

Neil Scholl, “Caumsett Series #46,” 1997, silver gelatin photograph, 19¼ by 14 inches, gift of the artist.

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‘PICTURING LONG ISLAND’ OPENS AT HECKSCHER MUSEUM FEB 3 w/3 cuts

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HUNTINGTON, N.Y. — The Heckscher Museum of Art will present a special exhibition of Long Island art, “Picturing Long Island: Abstract, Figurative and Historical,” on view February 3–March 25.

Approximately 40 paintings and photographs will be featured from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Centuries. According to Dr Kenneth Wayne, chief curator at Heckscher, “The exhibit’s unique juxtaposition of historical with contemporary art and paintings with photographs creates a particularly compelling presentation.”

The earliest work in the exhibition dates to 1876 — James MacDougal Hart’s oil painting, “Northport, Long Island” — while several others were produced as recently as 2006. Other Nineteenth Century works include two paintings by Edwin Austin Abbey that were made in East Hampton and a stormy seascape by Edward Moran. Helen Torr’s portrayal of Huntington Harbor from 1929 demonstrates why her reputation is on the rise.

Watercolors by Torr’s husband, American modernist Arthur Dove, from the 1940s record the area around Centerport with delicacy and charm. In “Long Island Abstraction,” from the early 1960s, Charlotte Park’s gestural swipes of pink, green, light blue and white paint evoke the sand dunes and grassy knolls of the Hamptons on a summer’s day.

The colorful, abstract paintings of Stan Brodsky capture a light and festive aspect of the island, while the semi-abstract paintings of Lisa Breslow reflect a facet that is mysterious, profound and contemplative.

Barbara Prey’s “Twilight II” portrays trees in dark silhouette at dusk, while the swirling moodiness of her painting, “Cold Spring Harbor,” recall Edvard Munch.

Photography also comprises a significant component of “Picturing Long Island” including Joe Constantino’s photos from infrared negatives of a barn in Mattituck to canoes in Riverhead. Andreas Rentsch’s images of a silhouetted figure in the forest — he is actually the model — seem both primal and mysterious. Helen Rousakis’s color photographs work on a micro level that is very different from all other works in the show.

Neil Scholl’s sleek black and white images of Caumsett State Park seem to come from a different era, while Raymond Germann also addresses Lloyd Harbor — the area in which Caumsett is located. Stanley Twardowicz’s photo “Long Island” seems like a multi-layered collage, and Stuart McCallum’s photo “Long Island Beech” mixes beauty and monumentality.

The museum is in Heckscher Park, Main Street (Route 25A) and Prime Avenue. For more information, 631-351-3250, or www.heckscher.org.