David Lazarus first mastered the art of scrimshaw during the 1970s, and this artistic endeavor led him to printmaking and eventually to painting.
This Saturday, December 7, the Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) will open an exhibit featuring works by artist Lazarus in the Sherlund Conference Room in the Whaling Museum. The exhibit will display Nantucket-themed oil, watercolor paintings, and small prints. The exhibit will be open to the public daily from 10 am to 4 pm during the holiday season.
A reception to meet the artist will be held this Sunday, December 8, at 2 p.m.
David Lazarus is a highly respected island artist, who has worked at the NHA’s 1800 House. There he taught numerous classes on a variety of 19th-century American crafts. Before emigrating from England, he studied at the Bath Academy of Art. He came to Nantucket to carve scrimshaw in the 1970s, having spent time working with scrimshanders in Bellingham, Washington. During the last 20 years, Lazarus has devoted more time to painting with oils. “The looseness of pushing paint around, after having engraved miles of tiny lines, has been liberating as well as challenging,” Lazarus explains. His work is bright and vivid, with a style of loose realism.
“David Lazarus is one of the mainstays of our art scene, but is now leaving the island and moving to Maine. This exhibit is a tribute to the wonderful art David has given to Nantucket, and a warm send-off to a local hero”, says Dan Elias, NHA’s Robyn & John Davis Chief Curator.
The NHA plans to expand on this inaugural exhibit in 2020 and provide a space to showplace a wide variety of excellent work.
Lazarus’ paintings and prints are available for purchase through the Museum Shop. For more information on the exhibit, call 508-228-1894, ext. 131.