The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie Mansion will present an exhibition focusing on a community of artists surrounding New Jersey native and revered American landscape painter Lois Dodd.
“Painting the Moon and Beyond: Lois Dodd and Friends Explore the Night Sky,” opening Friday, Nov. 19, and on view through April 29, will include 75 paintings by Dodd, Jeff Epstein, Dan Finaldi, and Elizabeth O’Reilly. This is the first time these paintings are being shown together.
Communities of artists have always been a part of Dodd’s life, from her early years at Cooper Union and Skowhegan, to the New York galleries where she exhibited with Alex Katz, Philip Pearlstein, Tom Wesselmann, Yvonne Jacquette, and others.
Communities of artists can be a space for nurturing and encouragement. “Had it not been for Lois, many of us wouldn’t be where they are today,” said Finaldi.
Dodd, 94, a founding member of the legendary artist-run Tanager Gallery, has, for more than 70 years, painted her surroundings—New York’s Lower East Side, rural Mid-Coast Maine, and the Delaware Water Gap.
Among her favorite subjects—and the central theme of the exhibition—is the night sky. Together with former students and painting colleagues Epstein, Finaldi and O’Reilly, Dodd has ventured out on summer nights to paint the moon and the stars. “People love night paintings,” said Joan Perkes, Trenton Museum Society president. “They are magical.”
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.