Muskegon, Museum of Art

Remembering Newaygo County: The Symbolist Paintings of Annabel Livermore

August 12 through October 31, 2010

Annabel Livermore
View of Pickerel Lake from the Front Porch, 1995–1998
Oil on panel
21 ½ x 21 ¾ inches, framed: 32 ¼ x 30 ½ inches
Collection of Jay D. and Janice V. Alexander

Annabel Livermore
William J. Branstrom Takes a Morning Stroll in His Arboretum, 1998-1999
Oil on panel
23 ¾ x 21 ¾ inches, framed: 31 x 29 ¼ inches
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Belk

Annabel Livermore
Grandmother Branstrom Fishing Near the Kimble Lake Bridge, 2004-2005
Oil on panel
15 ½ x 19 ¼ inches, framed: 22 ½ x 26 ¼ inches
Collection of the artist

Annabel Livermore
The Old Road to Newaygo, 2003
Oil on panel
11 ½ x 9 ½ inches, framed: 21 x 19 inches
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph H. Weingartner

Annabel Livermore
Morning Sunlight in Branstrom Park, 2002   
Oil on panel
16 x 15 ¾ inches, framed: 24 x 23 ¾ inches
Collection of Adair and Dee Margo

Remembering Newaygo County: The Symbolist Paintings of Annabel Livermore includes twenty paintings that reflect the artist’s memories of the western region of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and the reverence she feels for the places and people surrounding Pickerel Lake, located between the cities of Fremont and Newaygo. The exhibition opens at the Muskegon Museum of Art on August 12 and continues through October 31, 2010.

Though Annabel has lived and worked in El Paso, Texas since 1981, her origins are in Newaygo County. Her work is receiving increasing attention among scholars, curators, and collectors nationwide. Annabel’s burgeoning career has generated an impressive resume; a notable following, including former First Lady Laura Bush; and representation in public collections such as the Yale University Art Gallery, as well an in numerous private collections nationwide. This will be the first public showing of Annabel’s work organized in the Midwest, the first in Michigan, and the first to take as its primary subject her Michigan origins. More than a dozen collections from across the country are lending to the Muskegon exhibition. A fully illustrated 80-page publication, published by the Muskegon Museum of Art and written by MMA Sr. Curator, E. Jane Connell, accompanies the exhibition (below). It is available for purchase in the Museum’s gift store for $15.

Annabel is the alter ego of sculptor/poet and Fremont native James R. Magee. (Magee’s grandfather, William J. Branstrom, was a prominent Fremont philanthropist who first settled in Muskegon as a young Swedish immigrant boy and, by family history, was a cow herder for the Hackley family.) Annabel was conceived in the mid-1970s as a retired librarian from the Midwest who took up painting later in life. It is through her color-filled, ebullient paintings that Jim Magee pictures, and gives symbolic meaning to, his Michigan heritage.

Remembering Newaygo County has been organized by the Muskegon Museum of Art. Support for the exhibition and programming has been provided in part by the Fremont Area Community Foundation and the Porter Foundation. The exhibition catalogue is made possible through the generosity of Janice V. and Jay D. Alexander, Jeanne and Roger Knop, Patricia Knop and Zalman King, Adair Margo Fine Art, Johnna and Philip McWeeny, Michael D. Robinson and Donald J. Boutté, Rudolph H. Weingartner, Susan and Dale Wente, and anonymous donors.

RELATED PROGRAMS

Opening Reception and Lecture
Thursday, August 12
Reception 5:30 pm / Lecture 7:00 pm
Celebrate the opening of this groundbreaking exhibition. MMA Sr. Curator E. Jane Connell will present a special lecture, "Annabel's Newaygo County." Annabel collector Patricia Knop will offer introductory remarks. Free event. Call 231.720.2598 if you plan to attend.

Special Curator’s Tour
Thursday, August 19, 1:00–2:00 pm
Explore Remembering Newaygo County: The Symbolist Paintings of Annabel Livermore with MMA Senior Curator E. Jane Connell. Learn about Annabel’s memories of West Michigan that inspired her symbolic paintings about Newaygo County. Free admission. Reservations are not required.

Open Tours
Thursday, August 26, 1:00 – 3:00 pm
Drop in for free tours of the Annabel Livermore exhibition led by MMA docents. Reservations are not required.