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When Margaret Francis “Peggy” Bacon passed away in Cape Porpoise, Maine in 1988, her place in American art history was secure. A renowned printmaker, painter, illustrator, poet, novelist, and writer of short stories, Bacon was truly a Renaissance woman. In fact, the versatility of her creative genius was unmatched by any American artist of her generation. In all her endeavors, her unique perception of the world was characterized by warmth, humor, and a love and understanding for the imperfections that make us human.

A painting student at New York’s Art Students League, in 1917 Bacon taught herself the printing techniques of etching, drypoint, and lithograph. Two years later, her prints were exhibited in a New York Gallery, and she received national acclaim when her work was reproduced in the publication, World Magazine. During her long printmaking career (1917-1972), Bacon became an acknowledged master. In 1975, she was given what was then the largest solo exhibition ever mounted at the Smithsonian Institution of the National Collection of Fine Arts (now called the Smithsonian American Art Museum). A selection of the prints included in that exhibition will be part of the OMAA show.

In the late 1930s, Bacon and her husband, painter Alexander Brook, spent several summers in Ogunquit, Maine as part of the famous art colony. After they divorced in 1940, she returned to Maine in the late 1950s, eventually moving to Cape Porpoise where she lived from 1961 until her death. Many of Bacon’s most prized prints depict the people and locales found in Ogunquit, Cape Porpoise and Kennebunkport. A selection of these Maine-inspired works will also be included in this exhibition.