Always with a camera in hand... Documenting his family and potential subjects, this vast archive of photographs captures Claude Montgomery’s Maine life and his artist-residencies throughout the world. The Life of an Artist in Pictures The World Previous Project Next Project The Americas

Biography Nationally acclaimed artist Claude Montgomery was born in Portland, Maine in 1912. A portrait painter, landscape artist, watercolorist and etcher, his watercolors of quintessential Maine were regular covers of Down East Magazine, his paintings hung in prominent clubs and private parlors, and his commissioned portraits of statesmen and presidents were displayed prominently in state houses, universities and offices headquarters. His work was influenced by John Singer Sargent and Winslow Homer and for a time he studied under Winslow Homer protege, Alexander Bower. His children and grandchildren are collaborating on what they see to be a very important effort to illuminate Montgomery’s legacy as they organize the incredibly rich archive of paintings, newspaper clippings, and photographs of the artist at work, his subjects and his family life as he traveled around the world with his wife, Louise–the key player in getting commissions and selling his works–and his three children. His is a story of a Maine artist’s life in the ‘30s through the ‘80s when an artist could make a living selling portraits while also capturing every-day life in his water colors of fishing villages. The artist died in 1990 in Portland, Maine at the Friendship House, a shelter for unhoused men that he and Louise founded, ran and even lived in with their guests. Having lived a full life, quintessential of both an artist and a Mainer, he died at the age of 78. During his life, Montgomery maintained studios on the Maine Coast in Georgetown and Tulsa, Oklahoma. He also painted extensively in Europe, Mexico, and the Caribbean islands. It is his coastal Maine studio, which he built with a friend and his son, Bruce, in 1960 that his granddaughter, Christine Beebe is converting back into its original purpose – an artist’s studio for artists. The studio is virtually untouched, with the same classic books in the massive library, the same vaulted ceiling stretching towards the wall of Northern facing windows, the same antiques, and even the same crystal glassware and silver serving platters in the cupboards. Claude in his own words, 1955

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The Claude Montgomery Residency Get updates on the forthcoming Claude Montgomery Artist Residency Program. Sign Up Here!

Ephemera A repository of items and information related to the Montgomery's. LOUISE MONTGOMERY Writings of an Artist’s Wife

Contact Connect with us to learn more about the work and legacy of Claude Montgomery, the future artist residency program, Friendship House and the latest news. www.claudemontgomery.com ↗ Artist Residence Program ↗ Friendship House ↗ contact@claudemontgomery.com Instagram Friendship House

Europe

Etchings Etchings, working in America, Europe and Latin America. A Montgomery etching of Ole’ Joe, a clam digger, won the Silver Medal in the Paris Exposition of 1937, fifty years after another Maine artist, Winslow Homer, captured the same award in 1887. Etching subjects ranged from animals and people to boats, buildings and coastal scenes. Many of the Montgomery Christmas cards were often his etchings. Credit Title We can probably get rid of this credit text here... Credit Title We already have on image captions on rollover. Try rolling over an image to the left! Credit Title We could use this area for a bit more contextual info, perhaps, maybe... Previous Project Next Project

Portraits