[caption id="attachment_44875" align="alignnone" width="340"] Barbara Hadden, Sag Harbor Cinema, oil on canvas.[/caption]
Our Town, an exhibit featuring Michael Butler and Barbara Hadden will close its almost two month run at the end of October at the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum, 200 Main Street in Sag Harbor.
Barbara Hadden is a self-taught artist whose works can be found in many collections. Settled in Sag Harbor, she is a long-time resident of the South Fork who finds the architecture and landscapes of Eastern Long Island a continuous source of inspiration. Beginning to paint in the late seventies in a primitive style using acrylic and ink, she made a departure to watercolor and now enjoys working in oils.
[caption id="attachment_44874" align="alignleft" width="240"] Michael Butler, Tempest-Tossed, acrylic on canvas[/caption]
Michael A. Butler is a self-taught, regional artist whose preferred medium is acrylic on canvas. The deep jewel tones in his paintings are reminiscent of Henri Rousseau or the early works of Romare Bearden. His style has been described by others as naïve and/or primitive but his preferred description is intuitive or narrative. His works do tell stories with source material derived from mythology, either current or ancient, religious or spiritual references, stories overheard or purely from his imagination. Another important component of his work is that of historian or documentarian. Mr. Butler has a Masters degree in Public Administration, is semi-retired and describes himself as a full-time, summer resident of Sag Harbor.
Our Town is the second exhibit as a part of a two-part series celebrating the 375th anniversary of the founding of Southampton Town, and is partially funded through the Town of Southampton. For more information, visit sagharborwhalingmuseum.org.