Writer Carl Little weaves an engaging narrative of the artist's life and
art illustrated with vintage photographs and examples of Hamabe's witty
and stylish graphic work. Paintings from the Colby and Bates College
museums and the University of Maine Museum of Art are featured, along
with numerous works from private collections, many reproduced for the
first time.
Francis Hamabe (1917-2002)
One of Maine's most beloved artists, Francis Hamabe was born in 1917 in
Orange, New Jersey, to a Japanese father and Swedish mother. He served
in World War II and attended the Rhode Island School of Design. Moving
to Maine in 1947, Hamabe established himself as a sought-after painter,
printmaker, ceramicist, and pupeteer. A dedicated teacher he was the
first art instructor at the Farnsworth Art Museum and later taught at
the University of Maine at Machias he also served as art director for
Down East and Maine Life magazines and for the state's first public
television station in Orono.