This reclusive artist
never showed his work during his lifetime. It’s worth seeing now.
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| Untitled, by Erik Lundin. Courtesy of the Kelpie Gallery. |
On my way out of town last week, I stopped at the
Kelpie Gallery in South Thomaston to
see a retrospective exhibition of the works of Erik Lundin. For 45 years, Lundin
shuffled between Rockland, Maine and Madrid, Spain. His work has never been
shown before.
Lundin received an MA in English Literature from Ohio
University and taught English Literature for ten years at Lake Superior State College
in Michigan. Eventually, he relocated, spending half the year in Madrid and
half in Thomaston, Maine. Lundin then spent the next 45 years painting
geodynamic landscapes of Maine, the clay cliffs of Guadalaraja, the Seven Peaks
of Cercedilla and the Ontigona Sea of Aranjuez. In 2000,
Dr.
Antonio Dominguez Rey reproduced a waxing by the artist in his magazine of
poetry and poetics,
Serta (volume 5).
Lundin was also an accomplished pianist.
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| Untitled, by Erik Lundin. Courtesy of the Kelpie Gallery. |
“Lundin surrounded himself with creative and academic
friends while living in Spain, yet kept very much to himself while in Maine,”
said the Kelpie Gallery’s Susan Lewis Baines. “A true academic and artist, his work
is both cerebral and esthetically pleasing. Many of his paintings successfully
show the struggle of being two persons in one, the socialite and the recluse.”
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| Untitled, by Erik Lundin. Courtesy of the Kelpie Gallery. |
The paintings on display at The Kelpie Gallery span Lundin’s
entire creative life. How he could be an extrovert in Madrid and a loner in
Rockport, and why he felt the need to alternate between both existences, is a mystery now shrouded in time. But his social bifurcation is not the only
dichotomy in his work.
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| Untitled (balistraria), by Erik Lundin. Courtesy of the Kelpie Gallery. |
His paintings were strongly influenced by Spanish Cubism and
Spanish subjects, including the balistraria (arrow slits) of medieval
fortresses. Meanwhile, his other self was deeply engaged in painting the
granite coast of Maine, particularly the rocks at Pemaquid. While most of his
work studies the architecture of natural forms, the collection also includes
some traditionally-rendered, sensitive portraits of friends and a lover.
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| Untitled, by Erik Lundin. Courtesy of the Kelpie Gallery. |
Because he wasn’t interested in showing and selling his
work, Lundin had the latitude to explore ideas. He did so extensively. For
example, the collection includes several composite boards with postcard-sized
sketches. Each board explores a single theme.
Lundin’s color sense was particularly strong. He used strong
chromatic contrasts in lieu of the neutrals we typically associate with the
granite coast.
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| Untitled, by Erik Lundin. Courtesy of the Kelpie Gallery. |
Sales of Lundin’s paintings will benefit end-of-life care at
the
Sussman House, a seven-bed hospice in Rockport. The Sussman House provides
seven-day-a-week/24-hours-a-day compassionate care, pain management, and
skilled nursing for patients whose symptoms cannot be managed at home. While
the show has officially closed, the works can be viewed by appointment at the
Kelpie Gallery.
