Monhegan Harbor 

Dan Graziano made this oil on canvas depicting Monhegan Harbor. Though seemingly just a serene landscape, it engages with a long history of artists being drawn to this island off the coast of Maine. Monhegan's rugged beauty made it an artist's colony by the late 19th century. Painters like Rockwell Kent and Edward Hopper sought its remote, unspoiled nature as an escape from industrializing America. Graziano, working much later, inherits this artistic legacy. However, what was once a haven for artistic freedom is now inevitably shaped by tourism and the art market. Small paintings like this one become desirable commodities, offering a piece of the Monhegan mystique to collectors. Understanding this work fully requires looking into the history of American landscape painting and the evolving role of places like Monhegan Island within American culture. Historical resources and social context, as well as visual analysis, give us greater insight.