CONWAY — A hot afternoon sun beat down on the white William Lester Stevens farmhouse. Birdsong floated through the air, carried on a sweet spring breeze that rustled the branches. One could almost picture the famous Rockport painter, who lived in the house until his death in the late-1960s, squinting through sunlight, capturing the scene in bold brush strokes with his idyllic New England style.
“When I got here, there was no one else around. I could feel his essence, feel his paintings,” said Vermont painter Eric Tobin, who was himself standing in front of an easel on the side of the road, roughing out shadows in oil paints.
He took a step back from the easel. “I like the way the light is hitting the roof of the barn, and on the road,” Tobin said.
Not far away, four other New England painters, including Ashfield artist Jim Murphy, worked over their own canvases, each painting a unique angle of the historic house in honor of Stevens’ legacy and Conway’s 250th birthday.
The four finished paintings, with originals by 11 other contemporary New England artists — and 30 by Lester Stevens himself — will be displayed in the Field Memorial Library in the town’s center during the town’s 250th Anniversary Celebration, June 15 through 18.
“(Lester Stevens) really is the crowning jewel of the town,” said Historical Society member Philip Kantor, who helped organize the painting event and collaborative exhibition.
Originally from Rockport, Stevens — widely recognized for his 19th-century New England landscape oils — spent his twilight years in Conway, from 1944 until his death in 1969, often bartering artwork for basic services like laundry or milk delivery.
“The town and community is knit together by him — kids go to school looking at Lester Stevens paintings. And it’s amazing how many paintings were given to their owners,” Kantor continued.
Stevens studied painting first with Rockport artist Parker Perkins, then continued his academic training at the Boston Museum’s Fine Art School, where he developed his own impressionist style, according to the celebration organizers.
Then, after a tour in the European theater with the Army during World War I, Stevens returned to the United States and taught art in Rockport, at Boston University at Princeton, and founded the Rockport Art Association.
In the 1930s, Stevens moved with his family to Springfield and then a decade later to Conway, where he and his wife, Angelina, bought the Lee farmhouse on Cricket Hill. Stevens built his studio there, facing north with a view of the Connecticut River Valley and Mount Monadnock.
When Kantor began putting the exhibition together, he reached out to the Rockport Art Association — one of America’s oldest active art associations, founded by Stevens. After the association agreed to help, the event has received a lot of attention.
An article written by Kantor, referencing the art association, was accepted into American Art Review’s June publication. In the article, titled “A Tribute to W. Lester Stevens,” Kantor hails the 250th anniversary event as a “once in a generation exhibition.” The article featured a number of paintings of Stevens’ Cricket Hill Road house, including one by Murphy.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of the Rockport school, so this is exciting,” said artist Carolyn Walton, while painting a “quick study” of the barn on a small canvas. Also painting the barn in deep red, bold tones, Murphy noted “I want to capture the spirit, the mood of this part of Franklin County, and the time of year.”
“What I try to do, by the grace of God, is to get the spirit and mystery of a subject,” said Vermont painter Peter Miller, painting the back of the house, which was cast in stark sunlight. “If it’s got mood, and therefore mystery, you’ll want to go back and see it again.”
“We’re part of a continuum. I’m looking at art of the past, and adding to that. That’s part of what this is about,” said another artist, Harley Bartlett, whose easel was set up in the shadow of a tree line, behind the barn.
The June show will be held at the library in the center of town on Thursday, June 15, from 5 to 9 p.m., with a talk and reception at 7 p.m.; Friday, June 16, from 5 to 9 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, June 17 and 18, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Elsewhere on Thursday, there will be a presentation on Stevens’ work by Kevin Murphy, senior curator of the American Art Review at the Williams College Museum of Art starting at 7 p.m.