Rockland, ME — The Farnsworth Art Museum is pleased to announce Along the Goose River: Andrew Wyeth’s Secret Subject, a milestone exhibition featuring 26 paintings by Andrew Wyeth, 15 of which have never been seen before by the public. On view from November 1 through April 19, 2026, the exhibition unveils an intimate and lesser-known facet of the artist’s work—his “secret subject,” inspired by the mysterious Goose River and the abandoned Hoffses House in Cushing, Maine.

On the opposite side of the Cushing peninsula, the Goose River offered Wyeth a more secluded landscape—dense woods, quiet clearings, and ordinary structures that would shape his artistic vision for decades. From this setting emerged haunting forest interiors and scenes of domestic solitude that Betsy Wyeth once described as her husband’s “secret subject.”

Wyeth discovered the deserted Hoffses House in 1945 while exploring land west of Cushing. Both the house and its surroundings became central to his work over the next 58 years (1945—2003), inspiring a series of paintings in egg tempera and hundreds of watercolors and drawings. Even after the house fell into ruin and was demolished, the lonely site along the Goose River continued to stir Wyeth’s imagination.

In the 1950s, Life magazine photographer Kosti Ruohomaa accompanied Wyeth on one of his visits to the Hoffses House, documenting the scenes that would later appear in Wyeth’s paintings. The original Life magazine article (July 1953) will be on view in the exhibition.

Today, portions of the land that once inspired Wyeth have been preserved by the Midcoast Conservancy as the Goose River Peace Corp Preserve, ensuring public access to the landscapes that shaped one of America’s most celebrated artists.

High-resolution images available here.

Image caption: Andrew Wyeth, Moose Pond, 1977, Watercolor on paper, 21 ½ x 30 in. Collection of the Wyeth Foundation for American Art, M2115. © 2025 Wyeth Foundation for American Art / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.
 

ABOUT THE FARNSWORTH ART MUSEUM
Named by the Boston Globe as one of the finest small museums in the country, the Farnsworth Art Museum offers a nationally recognized collection of works from many of America’s greatest artists. It is open year-round as the only museum dedicated solely to American- and Maine-inspired art. Through its remarkable collection of nearly 16,000 works, inventive exhibitions, wide-ranging intellectual resources, and energetic educational programming, visitors from around the world gain a deep appreciation of the ongoing story of Maine’s role in American art. More information about the museum can be found at www.farnsworthmuseum.org.

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