Thomas Crotty (b. 1934)

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Crotty moved to Maine in 1964, drawn by the natural beauty of the rugged coastline and landscape of the state. He primarily paints near his residence in Freeport but his realist landscapes capture the Maine coast from Cape Elizabeth to Stonington.

Crotty studied at the Massachusetts College of Art and has exhibited in several solo exhibitions in Maine art institutions including the Farnsworth Art Museum, the Bates College Museum of Art, the Van Vechten Gallery of Fine Arts at Fisk University, and Maine Coast Artists (now the Center for Maine Contemporary Art), among others.

His paintings are characterized as disciplined and luminous, "demonstrating an extraordinary sensitivity towards space, texture, the mutability of water, and the vitality of light. Each of Crotty's paintings invites the viewer to engage fully in the contemplation of a unique place, during a specific season, at a particular moment. Many images record the elusive character of evening, or the fragile light of early morning, often in the firm grip of Maine winter."
(Wall text at the Portland Museum of Art. A Solitude of Space: The Paintings of Thomas Crotty. September 25, 2003-January 4, 2004)

Sources include:
tfaoi.com/aa/4aa/4aa131.htm
goodreads.com/book/show/2993742-thomas-crotty