{"id":741,"date":"2022-12-15T17:26:22","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T22:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/southsolonmeetinghouse\/?page_id=741"},"modified":"2023-01-12T06:22:28","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T11:22:28","slug":"anne-poor-fresco","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/southsolonmeetinghouse\/frescoes-within\/anne-poor-fresco\/","title":{"rendered":"Anne Poor Vestibule Fresco"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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Vestibule of the South Solon Meeting House with, on the right, fresco by Anne Poor, 1956 (photo: David Franzen).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Anne Poor painted her fresco in the vestibule of the South Solon Meeting House in 1956, along with other permanent members of the faculty of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (Cummings 52). Poor\u2019s fresco is located on either side of Willard Cummings\u2019s group portrait and next to the doorways leading into the main area of the Meeting House. Since Poor\u2019s fresco is painted on a curved wall and the vestibule is very narrow, only one side can be viewed at a time. Mildred Cummings, Willard Cummings\u2019s wife, explains that Poor depicted local plants \u201ctaken from study and observation of the buds, seeds, and leaves which grow around South Solon and they are shown in various seasons of the year\u201d (Cummings 52). Poor focused on the leaves of various plants. In so doing, she followed the tradition of botanical illustration and its purpose to \u201creveal a plant\u2019s morphological structure such as the arrangement of reproductive parts, leaves, and stems with a three dimensional quality\u201d (Wendy Hollender, National Tropical Botanical Garden<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Anne Poor, frescoes with native plants, 1956. Vestibule of the South Solon Meeting House (photo: David Franzen).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

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On both sides, Poor divided her fresco into three vertical sections that mirror each other. On the left hand-side, we have first a wide band with a mostly pink background, then a thinner one with a taupe and grey background, and finally a wider section with a black and blue background. On the right-hand side, the backgrounds are, from left to right, predominantly black and blue, green, and taupe. The background colors might allude to the seasons: pink for spring, green for summer, taupe for fall, and black and blue winter.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Anne Poor, eastern white pine needles (photo: Yvonne Laube).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Anne Poor, northern red oak leaves (photo: David Franzen).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Anne Poor, white spruce needles (photo: David Franzen).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Anne Poor, white pine needles with frost (photo: David Franzen).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The plants are rendered in a particularly vibrant manner through Poor\u2019s choice of pigments. In the first band, for instance, most of the plants are depicted using black pigments. Starting at the top, we find a depiction of Pinus strobus<\/em>, eastern white pine needles (Petrides 34). Interestingly, Poor chose to depict the needle-like leaves as circular bundles rather than long tight bundles, as if viewed straight on at the end of the branch. The next detail, simple lobed leaves that are not separated into leaflets is likely from a northern red oak, Quercus rubra<\/em> (Petrides 88). The plant nearest to the red oak is likely a white spruce, Picea glauca<\/em>, with its rounded needle-like leaves with one leaf per node (Petrides 38). Finally, at the bottom we might find again an eastern white pine tree, depicted from a different angle. Poor depicts the needle-like leaves in clusters that look just like the ones at the top, however, white spots might represent Maine\u2019s autumn frost.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Anne Poor, eastern white pine needles (photo: David Franzen).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The narrow section that follows contains what looks like different elements from the eastern white pine tree. We see clusters of needles, for instance at the top, with a dark triangular bundle attached to a thick and dark vertical branch. At the bottom, we see one more cluster; this time, seen from the side of the bundle.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Anne Poor, American beech leaves (photo: David Franzen). <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Anne Poor, sugar maple leaves (photo: David Franzen).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Anne Poor, cherry leaves (photo: David Franzen).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Anne Poor, northern red oak tree leaves (photo: David Franzen).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The inner-most sections with the black and blue background contains six distinct sets of leaves on either side. These depictions seem to be of the same plant but from slightly different viewpoints. The top and third plant in each panel, with simple leaves with teeth on the edge and prominent veins, likely belong to an American beech tree, Fagus grandifolia<\/em> (Petrides 96). The second plant from the top, with lobed simple leaves, is likely from a sugar maple, Acer saccharum<\/em> (Petrides 54). The fourth plant, with simple leaves with less pronounced teeth and one leaf at each node along the stem, resembles a black cherry tree, Prunus serotina<\/em> (Petrides 36). The fifth and sixth plants, with simple lobed leaves that are not separated into leaflets are likely different depictions of the northern red oak (Petrides 88).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Anne Poor, Sagittaria and Pontederia (photo: David Franzen).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

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The middle section on the right side of the vestibule, contains several plants without clear defining features, which nevertheless suggest abundant and verdant vegetation. However, since Mildred Cummings mentioned that all the plants are native to South Solon, it is possible that Poor depicted aquatic plants belonging to the Sagittaria <\/em>and Pontederia<\/em> families, which are vibrant green and tend to begin growing early in the spring (Washburn1<\/sup>).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Anne Poor, northern red oak leaves (photo: David Franzen).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

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Anne Poor, highbush blueberry leaves (photo: Yvonne Laube).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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Anne Poor, sugar maple leaves (photo: Yvonne Laube).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

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The last section on the far right side of the curved wall, contains three distinct plants. The topmost plant, with simple lobed leaves that are not separated into leaflets, might come from a northern red oak (Petrides 88). The middle plant, with simple leaves with one leaf per node along the stem, resembles a highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum<\/em> (Native Plant Trust). As a matter of fact, we distinguish round berries amongst the cluster of leaves. Finally, the bottom plant, with simple lobed leaves is probably a sugar maple (Petrides 54).<\/p>\n\n\n

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South Solon Meeting House, vestibule with frescoes by (from left to right) Anne Poor and Willard W. Cummings (photo: Donald Toothaker).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

By placing these depictions in the vestibule, Anne Poor brings nature inside the Meeting House. It also helps to welcome every visitor to building itself but also to the environing nature of South Solon and the Maine woods. Poor also reminds every visitor that nature preceded the South Solon Meeting House. While the area around the Meeting House might have been settled and developed over time, the native plants remain a constant presence. In that way, the fresco is a testament to the timelessness of the Meeting House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the style of this fresco is very different from most of Poor\u2019s landscape paintings, her teaching at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture helps us understand her stylistic choices here. The school embraced painting outdoors en plein air<\/em>\u2014a philosophy most relevant to an art school located on a \u201chistoric \u2026 farm in rural Maine\u201d with \u201cover 350-acres of farmland, forests, and lakefront\u201d (\u201cSkowhegan School\u201d). The campus, \u201cserves as a critical component of the program\u201d and the artists are open to the outdoors, providing a deep connection to nature. Poor\u2019s fresco in the Meeting House\u2019s vestibule reflects this belief in the potential nature has to fuel artistic inspiration, it also shows that landscapes are not the only form of plein air painting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 All my plant identifications were checked by Loraine Washburn, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology at Colby College. I wish to express all my gratitude to Doc Washburn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Katie Roy<\/p>\n\n\n\n