Galleries : Andrew Moore's vision of the natural world
If Andrew Moore weren't a successful realist painter, he might have been a scientist - scrutinizing, dissecting, analyzing, and reporting about life, its composition, how it thrives and what it looks like in its minutiae. Instead, Mr. Moore chose the artist's path, one that meanders along the New England coast, on trails through woods and by sea. As such, he uses a finely tuned eye to record his version of life in his own meticulous and magical way, in oils and watercolors. He is regarded as a Vineyard artist on a separate tier, one whose gift for capturing the beauty of the Island is spoken of in reverent tones.
Andrew Moore credits a lifetime of fishing and hunting for teaching him the patience required to create his characteristically meticulous paintings. Photo by Sam Decker
On Saturday, July 25, with a reception from 5 to 7 pm, Mr. Moore will open his gallery in Oak Bluffs for one of his infrequent and long-awaited shows. Every three years, or as soon as he has enough work to fill the gallery walls he invites the public in to the intimate gallery adjacent to his home in Harthaven, just off Beach Road.
"I used to open the gallery every year, then every two years," Mr. Moore says, "but each year my work seems to grow more complex. It can take up to six months now to complete a single painting, so I need three years to create a large enough body of work to show."
This year, the show consists of 15 paintings, the majority in oil, the balance in watercolor, as well as a selection of limited edition prints. His subject matter, he says, is part of his life: places he's been or visits often - the Island waters, beaches and woodlands, as well as scenes from the southern end of Penobscot Bay, Maine, where his mother's family has summered for decades.
"Hawk and Squirrel" Photo courtesy of Andrew Moore
Not just recording, but interpreting the natural landscape, Mr. Moore says his work begins with the abstract: a concept of what he has seen, the colors, tonal quality and a perspective only his imagination can create.
"People say, 'It looks just like a photograph,'" he explains. "But it's deceiving. To capture the scene in my painting, you might need to tape together 15 photographs. I use the information I see, but rebuild it and interweave it with other objects."
Tradition and history are key elements in Mr. Moore's works. His mother is a lifelong artist and art teacher; his father an architect. His paternal great, great grandfather, Nelson Augustus Moore, was a noted painter from the Hudson River School, influential in shifting the focus in American painting from Europe to the domestic landscape. In 1894, he came to the Vineyard for the first time and began a Moore family tradition of summering here.
Andrew Moore grew up dividing his summers between the coast of Maine and the Vineyard. He moved to the Island to live year-round in 1985, left after nine years, and returned in 2000 to build a permanent home with his wife, artist and website designer Heather Goff, their two children, Hannah, 14, and Gordon, 12, and his step-daughter Noemie, 20. Members of the Moore family have lived in Harthaven since it was settled in the early 1900s.
"Black Sea Bass" Photo courtesy of Andrew Moore
Having grown up in a hunting and fishing clan, Mr. Moore enthusiastically embraces the rituals of both sports and unconsciously learned to listen, watch, and wait patiently. He has translated those skills into the tools necessary to create his intricately detailed paintings.
"I think that when you hunt and fish you gain an awareness of the environment that's unique," Mr. Moore says. "It's like the difference between being a participant in a sport versus being just a spectator. Fishing and hunting are mostly looking, listening, and thinking. There's relatively little action - just hours of waiting and observing."
Although he hunts infrequently and admits somewhat sheepishly to "problems with the killing part," and fishes less than he'd probably choose, Mr. Moore applies the acquired eye and perseverance to his painting.
"The kind of work I do is hard. It's not romantic. People think of Vincent Van Gogh. All of his painting appears emotional, active, fluid. Mine is disciplined. It takes weeks and weeks to achieve a subtle change in a painting. None of it is easy."
Easy or not, Mr. Moore paints day and often night in the three years leading up to a gallery opening. For each landscape, he builds what he considers a shrine to the subject matter: bits of grass, rocks, dried plants, real fish or birds, along with numerous photographs and drawings. And while he acknowledges that his paintings have grown more complicated, he is pleased that they also appear more dimensional, subtle and realistic.
The subjects of Mr. Moore's latest work include seasonal landscapes inspired by Sengekontacket Pond, South Beach near Oyster Pond, a Chilmark farm, Squibnocket Pond, as well as underwater studies of black sea bass. In a departure from his signature material, he has completed what he considers his favorite new painting, a portrait of his son. Gordon sits on a granite ledge overlooking the water at low tide, his back to the artist.
"Kids grow up so quickly," Mr. Moore explains. "I see Gordon in full boyhood, lapping at the edge of 'teenage-dom.' I think that some people may see the painting as just that, rather than as a specific portrait of my son."
While he doesn't envision abandoning the landscape and wildlife he has spent 27 years observing, Mr. Moore says he dreams of painting scenes that feature people involved with the land and water, particularly fishing.
Unfortunately, we'll have to wait three more years to find out how his dreams play out on canvas.
Reception for Andrew Moore's new work, Saturday, July 25, 5-7 pm, at the Andrew Moore Gallery, 11 Martha's Park Rd., Harthaven, Oak Bluffs. 508-693-8548. The show runs through September 7.
Karla Araujo is a regular contributor to The Times.
