An upcoming exhibition at the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland will feature the first ever display of 15 watercolor paintings by the renowned Maine artist Andrew Wyeth.
The exhibition, “Along the Goose River: Andrew Wyeth’s Secret Subject,” includes a total of 26 works and opens Nov. 1.
The title refers to the Goose River in southern Knox County. Wyeth’s summer home was in the neighboring town of Cushing, where he memorialized a neighbor in a field in front of her home in his most famous painting, Christina’s World.
The Olson House that appears in the background of that painting is still standing in Cushing.
The other side of the peninsula was more secluded with dense woods and quiet clearings, offering the celebrated American realist what his wife Betsy Wyeth once called his “secret subject,” according to the Farnsworth.
There in the town of Waldoboro, another house, known as the Hoffses House, became central to Wyeth’s work between 1945 and 2003. The building, which was recently demolished, inspired a series of paintings in egg tempera and hundreds of watercolors and drawings, according to the Farnsworth.
The Farnsworth Art Museum is located at 16 Museum St. in downtown Rockland. The museum holds a large collection of works by three generations of Wyeth painters: Andrew, his father N.C. Wyeth, and his son Jamie Wyeth at its Wyeth Center.
“Along the Goose River: Andrew Wyeth’s Secret Subject” runs through April 19, 2026.
