Provincetown Artists An Oral History

The Provincetown Art Association was founded in 1914. Initially artists came to study with Charles Hawthorne, his disciple E. Ambrose Webster and later, Henry Hensche. There was a shift to abstraction with the German artist and teacher, Hans Hofmann. In 1949 when artist/poet/musician, Weldon Kees, organized the summer long Forum ’49, Hawthorne and the Art Association wanted no part of it. Exhibitions, lectures and panel discussions debated and defined the emergence of abstract expressionism. That presaged protests against the conservative Metropolitan Museum of Art. Life Magazine photographed the protestors as The Irascibles which included Provincetown artists. The critical mass of artists, and diversity of their approaches, resulted in a confluence of constantly revitalized generations. In the early decades the freedom of expression, spectacular nature, and cheap rent was a viable alternative to Europe. On a national and global level Provincetown was an incubator for the best of American art.