Winslow Homer Studio, Prouts Neck, Maine

The Portland Museum of Art is another of our favorite stops in Maine. Besides the impressive permanent collection which includes some 17,000 works of American and European fine and decorative art from the 18th through 21st centuries, we have seen some fantastic exhibitions in the summer months when we visit. This summer we very much enjoyed The William S. Paley Collection: A Taste for Modernism. Organized by MoMA, it features 61 works by modern masters such as Picasso, Matisse and Gauguin from this wonderful private collection. Paley, of course longtime president and chairman of CBS and husband of the legendarily stylish Babe, began assembling these works in the 1930s. The Portland Museum of Art is the only New England stop on the show’s 2012-2014 tour. On our wish list for next summer is a visit to Winslow Homer’s Studio. Acquired by the museum in 2006 and carefully restored since then, it opened to the public in September 2012. Homer lived and worked in the studio from 1883 until his death in 1910, painting many of his masterworks on the property. Now a National Historic Landmark, it is a true American treasure. 

The William S. Paley Collection: A Taste for Modernism is on view until September 8. www.portlandmuseum.org