The CCMOA houses the largest visual art collection representing generations of outstanding artists with a regional connection. My decision to donate this painting is in support of CCMOA's outstanding art and cultural stewardship. – Carl Lopes

Several Cape Cod Museum of Art galleries will present over 50 recent gifts accepted into the museum’s permanent collection -- outstanding work by individual artists who have a significant place in the history of the Cape’s art and well-known contemporary artists.

“We are so proud to include these artworks in our permanent collection and immensely grateful to our donors who are sharing our mission to preserve the Cape’s very strong artistic identity,” said CCMoA Director Edith (Deede) Tonelli. “The range and depth of our Cape-wide collection exemplifies the richness of the influence of the Cape on artists past and present. It’s our joy to be able to use these gifts to expand appreciation of the value and meaning of art in our lives.”

The Robert Spohn Gift, a significant collection of 13 small works by Cape Cod artists from the early 20^th-century through today, donated by a long-time dedicated docent and museum supporter Robert Spohn, will be exhibited together in the Ocean Edge gallery.

In addition, an installation of the museum’s white-line woodblock prints, a printmaking technique created on the Cape, will include the gifts of “Red Sails with Tulips,” by artist Suzanne Packer, and “Dancing Houses” by William Evaul.  

CCMoA’s permanent collection of over 2000 artworks represents the creative depth and diversity of artists from Falmouth to Provincetown, the Islands and the region.  It extends from the Cape’s early days as a destination for artists, and later, as an incubator of influential American art movements, right up to the present.

Some of the new artworks are:

“Happy Blowing Bubbles” 1930, by Charles Sydney Hopkinson (1869 – 1962)  A Boston-based portrait painter and landscape watercolorist, Hopkinson painted over 800 portraits in a direct style with a palette gradually lightening through his career. Many of his paintings were commissioned by Harvard University, where he acted as house portraitist. Among his sitters were Oliver Wendell Holmes and Calvin Coolidge.

This gift of Mr. and Mrs. Phil H. Neal Jr. is only the latest in the most generous gifts from Mrs. Neal and her late husband Philip.  This portrait is especially welcome in our collection, because it helps to provide a context for the portraiture tradition that blossomed on Cape Cod in the late 19^th century and has continued through to today.

City Sun IV, 1976 by Budd Hopkins (1931 – 2011)  Hopkins was a nationally-acclaimed member of the influential Abstract Expressionist group in New York City and Provincetown starting in the 1950's.  His works are in major art museums including the Museum of Modern Art, The Guggenheim Museum, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston among many others.

Donating this exciting 13-foot-long multi-canvas acrylic painting (68” x 86”), his daughter Grace Hopkins, an abstract photographer and director of the Berta Walker Galleries, said,

"I have recently become more involved with the Cape Cod Museum of Art and have been impressed with the staff and quality of exhibitions that have been shown.  I felt it was the right time to give a major painting to the collection.”

“Noblewoman” by Carl Lopes.  An artist whose multi-media works are influenced by African design and tradition, Lopes has retired from a distinguished career as an art educator and has consistently shown his work in exhibits across New England for the past 45 years.

Carl Lopes donated his work saying,

“The CCMOA houses the largest visual art collection representing generations of outstanding artists with a regional connection. My decision to donate this painting is in support of CCMOA's outstanding art and cultural stewardship.  Having created art on Cape Cod for over 35 years, I am proud to officially be part of the heritage of this premiere collection."

For information about donating to the permanent collection, contact: Edith A. Tonelli, Director at  ETonelli@CCMoA.org, or 508-385-4477, x17.

About Cape Cod Museum of Art

Founded by artists in 1981, the Cape Cod Museum of Art preserves and celebrates the distinctive artistic identity of Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.  CCMoA is a major hub of cultural growth and creativity that educates, inspires and serves the community through its outstanding art collection and diverse programming. Located in a beautiful setting surrounded by a sculpture garden, the museum has seven galleries, a museum shop and film screening room. The museum is supported in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.

CCMoA is located at 60 Hope Lane, just off Route 6A, on the same campus as the Cape Cinema and the Cape Cod Playhouse in Dennis, MA. Winter hours from December through March are 10 am to 4 pm Thursday through Saturday and noon to 4 pm on Sunday.  The galleries are open on Thursdays from 4 – 7 pm with no admission fee.  General Admission is $9, $7 for seniors and students 19+ with school ID, $5 for students 13 to 18, and free for children 12 & under. For more information, see www.ccmoa.org or call (508) 385-4477.