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Littoral Abstractions Drawings by Emily Nelligan Bowdoin College Museum ofArt Bmnswick, Maine The wordplayin theoneoFtKis exhibition is more than verbal mischief. Littoral/literal. The firstterm describes a location, albeit a slipperyone. Itpertains to the shore, the edge, the margins, the ambiguous zone between waterand land. Literal, on the otherhand, identifies an exact representation. EmilyNelligan's drawings are littoral but, although theyrecordspecificpoints ofviewand particularqualitiesoflightand atmosphere, theyare farft-om literal. Like dusk(a time ofdaythe artist particularlyenjoys, when edges erode and forms dissolve) herdrawings lie betweenrepresentation and abstraction. EmilyNelligan'sresponses to the edge ofCranberryIsland, where she has summered formore than fiftyyears, are deeplypersonal iterations ofa complexexperience that is neither, and both, land and water. She is attemptingthenearlyimpossible, to capture a setofconditions thatcannotbe pinned down, bylayingdown a dark, powderydust. Even the charcoal itselfis unfixed, forthe artistrefuses tocompromise the atmospheric surfaces ofher drawings. Hermodest butpotentpages range fromspectral profiles ofbarely recognizable topographyto formless, intangible, atmospheric insinuations. She chooses a paperconventionallyused for letterwriting, and herquietvistas transmitthe eloquentintimacyofprivatemessages. Herdrawings are titled bythe particular dateswhose feel and experience theyrecord. NelUgan's landscapes oftenmanage to seamlesslyweave togetherthezonesofsea andsky, darkand light, above andbelow, almost like theyinyangdiagram ofthe complementaryprinciples in Chinese Coverillustration: natural philosophy. Untitled, CranberryIsland, 10July/W?(detail) LittoralAbstractionsis the second in whatwe hopewill become an Titlepageillustration: Untitled, CranberryIsland, 16August1990 annual series ofexhibitions highlightingfresh and unconventional investigations ofthe legendarynatural beautyofthe state. During Design: LiseAndersson,KohnCruikshank,Inc. the summerof1999we presented the bold charcoal drawings of Boston,Massachusetts unprepossessingroadside grasses bySusan Hartnett. EmilyNelligan's Photography: small studies transcend the modestyoftheirscale and blackand DennisGriggs white palette andjoin Hartnett's robustgestures to claim an important Topsham,Maine position in thevenerableMaine landscape tradition. Printing: StandardModem Wewould Uke to acknowledge the ColbyCollegeMuseum ofArtfor Brockton,Massachusetts agreeingto loan twoworks from its collection and, ofcourse, Emily LittoralAbstractions:DrawingsbyEmilyNelligan Nelliganherselfforhercheerful cooperation ateverystage ofthe issupportedbytheFriendsofBowdoinCollegeand project. This exhibitionand publication have been generouslysupported theElizabeth B.G.HainlinFund. bythe Association ofBowdoin Friends, a livelyand committed group Copyright©2000byBowdoinCollege whose interestin the vitalityand varietyofCollegeprograms is enormouslyappreciated. KatyKline Director Littoral Abstractions Drawings by Emily Nelligan Bowdoin College Museum ofArt Brunswick, Maine June 23-September 3, 2000 Littoral Abstractions: Drawings by Emily Nelligan Eversince her firsttrip to CranberryIsland followingher and mutes the contrastingtextures ofthe skyand the water. graduationin 1944 from CooperUnioninNewYorkCity, The smudgysoftness ofherlines and formsis an appropriate EmilyNelligan has returned everysummertomakecharcoal vehicle toevoke thewaythatfogobscuresdetails, such thatthe drawings ofthe shorelineandsea ofthis Maineisland off fogthatNeUiganfirstassociatedwithCranberryIsland has, in MountDesert. CranberryIsland isNelUgan'ssolemuse. acertainmanner, neverleftherdrawingsofit. Nelligan's When askedwhich aspectofCranberryIsland made her fall proficientuse ofcharcoal contributes to herability to capture in love with it, Nelligan says itwas the dense fog thatveiled the dramaticweatherchanges and moods typical ofthis island's the island. Like much ofMaine's northern coastand islands. environment. Cumulativelyherdrawings give us asense ofwhat CranberryIsland is a moodyplace, austere in its beauty, rich in itisliketofeelthemoistfoggyairon ourskin and even allow spruce trees, and overwhelmedbytheatmosphericsofthe sea ustoimaginethesmellofthe cool crispocean breezetingedwith andsky. Inalmostallherdrawings,Nelligancaptures theisland the pungencyofwashed-upseaweedorthe sound ofthedeep, attwilightwhenthefailinglightsoftens the outlines ofthe trees grand rhythms ofthe ocean'swaves as theyroll on to the shore. Untitled, Cranberry bland, 25 October 1994#1 charcoal on paper 7'/8 X 10Vie inches — Ithas only been since the end ofthe seventeenth century that The strength ofNelligan's drawings, despite their modestsize, artists in the West have regularlydepicted the sea. Before then, lies in their lyrical abstract descriptions ofthe sea, rocks, the sea was considered a "menacingreminderofOldTestament coastline, and sky. Nelligan masterfullyplayson the tension doctrine,"' a primal force to be feared ratherthanrevered. betweenrepresentation and abstraction not only through Notuntil the Romanticmovementbegan did the sea become her forms and lines butspecificallyin her use ofdarkand Hght. a source ofwonderand inspiration. Alain Corbin explains that Untitled, CranbeiTy Island, 16August 1990 is an especially the Romantics made the seashore the favorite spotto seek quietand rich drawingdepicting low tide alongthe shoreline self-knowledge: at dusk. The leftside ofthe drawingcontains a dense, jet Within the perspective ofthe aestheticsofthe Sublime blacklayerofcharcoal suggestinga deeply shadowed beach recentlyadvanced byKant, standingon the shore stirred and hill in the distance. The blackness ofthe solid land masses theselfin a specialway; the stirringarose from the exalting is balancedbywhatappears to be lowlightin the skywhich experience ofconfrontation with the elements. Individuals in turn is reflected in the calm shallowwater. The composition no longercame there to admire the limits setbyGod to is expertlybalanced, while herplayon light and reflections the ocean's power. Theycame in search ofthemselves, confuses representation and reasserts its abstractqualities. — hopingtodiscover orbetteryet, perhaps, rediscover Nelliganemphasizes the symmetryofthe drawingbyevoking who theywere.- whatmightbe seen as a translucentgrid created bythe fine Theshoresoon alsobecame a destination for relaxation and raised whitehorizontal lines in the paperand blackvertical Unes thatappearto have been initiallycreated byfallingcharcoal recreation and an environmentin which to regain one's physical dustand then reworked into deliberate marks. and emotional health. Since then, seascapeshave taken on manymeanings as each generation defines its own relationship The classic compositional strategy in depictingthe sea, whether tonature. Because itis so difficultto renderwater, artists in drawings, paintings, photographs orprints, has been to who paintand drawthe sea often do so to flextheirtechnical subdivide the sheet into stacked horizontal zones with water muscles and displaytheir bravura masteryofa medium, while atthe bottom, the sky at the top, and a horizon orlandmass alsoexpressinggrandideas such as the manifestation ofthe separatingthe twobands ofcolor and texture. NelUgan alters Sublime. (J.M.W. TurnerandWmslow Homercome to mind.) thisprescription in Untitled, CranberryIsland, 21July 97 Others such asAlbertPinkham Ryder andMarsden Hartley byemphasizingthe sky to the pointthatthe sea and beach are have painted expressionistic seas to metaphoricallyrepresentthe suggested byonlya few discrete lines. The skyis depicted at journeyoflife and its all-encompassingelations and struggles. sunset, a time when its drama can overwhelm the usuallynoisy, There is none ofthis affectorattitudeinNelligan'swork. Instead theatrical sea. Large wispyclouds are rendered in bold loose she represents the sea in its complex simplicity, as a powerful strokes ofcharcoal and are accented byminute curlicue cumulus componentofnature that is a world unto itself. The emotion clouds in the lowercenter. Though there is no color in this — we observe in Nelligan'sworkis authentic she pours months oranyofherdrawings, one can easilyimagine the flamboyant ofanticipation and longing for the sea into her drawings which reds, oranges, and pinks Nelligan saw in these clouds. While resultinprofound and contemplative works ofart. Nelligan'sworkhas been gettingmore and more abstractover Untitled, Cranberrybland, 21July 1997 charcoal on paper 7Vi6 X 10'/: inches the years, Untitled, Cranberry bland, 25 October94#1 is the white cap has just broken overit, and after it has crashed, the most reaHstic in thisselection ofworks. Similar in sensibility sea foam remains, cloakingthe juttingrock. to Untitled, CranberryIsland, 21July 91, thisworkdepicts a Significantly absent from Nelligan's works are humans orany quieteveningon the island, as thewavesgentlywash up on sign ofthem. Nelligan was attracted to Cranberry Island fifty the shore. We can tell bythe line ofseaweed washed up on yearsago partlybecause itwas inhabitedbylobstermen and their the beach that itis low tide. The gentle curved line ofseaweed families and only a handful ofartists and summer people. parallels the bend ofthe beach while a stand ofspruce trees Nelligan haswitnessed a significantpopulation growth on the lines the horizon. island, especiallybysummerresidents. Increased human In addition to expansive planes ofthe sea and sky, Nelligan habitation ofthe islands and coast, and growinguse ofthe sea spends considerable time studyingthe dynamic ofthe water itselfbymilitary, fishing, recreation, and other industries, asitassaults, spills, and streams overrocks. Untitled, Cranberry have redefined ourrelationship to it. Nelligan's seascapes are Island, 10July 98 depictsthe turmoil ofroughwaterin a tinged with melancholynot only because the moodiness of cove ofrocks on a stormyday. White seafoam and sprayare the sea can produce such emotions, butbecauseshe has accentuated bysmall darkmarks ofcharcoal which suggest witnessed human activities thathave damaged thisvastalbeit swirlingenergyaround one particular rockjuttingoutof delicate bodyofwater. The bravura and awe ofearlierartists thewaterslighdyatthe rightofthe drawing. The commotion are absent in Nelligan's work because she understands that ofthe water and the resultingmistinessin the airconvey humankind has compromisedthe sea. Herdrawings are instead — adense, almostclaustrophobicatmosphere in which time and filledwithdisquietin the faceofpotential loss knowingthat space are obscured. Untitled, CranberryIsland, 28July 98#3 hertime on the island is transitoryandhervision ofitfleeting, is a studyofthe same rockfrom a differentperspective, though as the island is being altered byhuman interference. the weatherstill appears to be stormy. This time, however, Nelligan's drawings ofCranberryIsland and the sea are an actof the ocean responds by producing giantswells as opposed to preservation—preservingviews ofthe sea asweknow ittoday frenziedwaves. The rockis central to thecomposition: a large in thewake ofwhatmaybe, ifcare isnottaken, dramaticchange. Alison Ferris Curator I.JamesHamilton-Paterson,"TheCulturalImpactofOceans,"in TrudyWilnerStack,SeaChange:TheSeascapeinCo?itemporaryPhotography, (Tucson,Arizona:(CenterforCreativePhotography, 1998), 10. 2..'MainCorbin,TheLureoftheSea:TheDiscoveryoftheSeasideintheWesternWorld, 1750-1840,(Berkeley:UniversityofCaliforniaPress, 1994), 164. Vvtitled, CranhejyyIsland, 10July 1998 charcoal on paper 7Vl6 X 109/16inches Untitled, CranberryIsland, 28July 1998 charcoalon paper 71/16 X 10^16inches