"We would like to spend two weeks in Gloucester, just as a change from the desert. The thought of the sea fills me with nostalgia.”
–Adolph Gottlieb in a postcard to Paul Bodin planning his return to the East Coast after 9 months in Arizona, June 1938
Adolph Gottlieb and Esther Gottlieb on the beach in Gloucester, c. 1943
Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea is open through September 27th at the Cape Ann Museum. The exhibition explores the friendships between Milton Avery, Mark Rothko, and Adolph Gottlieb with a focus on the summers they spent together in Gloucester and Cape Ann, MA in the 1930s and 1940s.
Please enjoy the following supplemental exhibition guide featuring photographs and accounts of the times Avery, Gottlieb, and Rothko spent together.
Adolph Gottlieb with Mickey the dog, possibly Gloucester, c. 1930s.
Esther Gottlieb on the beach in Gloucester with Mickey the dog, c. 1943.
"We [the Averys, Gottliebs, and Rothkos] used to go to the country – usually, you know, to Rockport or Gloucester. For $25 you could rent a place for the summer. We’d chip in and go together on it and hire a car to take us. If the car was driven at night, it would cost less to hire a car. So we’d have to take turns sitting up front with the driver to keep him awake."
–Esther Gottlieb in an interview with Phyllis Tuchman, October 1981
"Had a very pleasant trip up on the boat. Had a little difficulty locating a place, but the Rothkowitzes [Rothkos], who got here ahead of us and took the place we wanted on Calder St., put us up for two days. They are in Mrs. Enos’ house where Simeon was last year. Mrs. Enos was wonderful to us, taking us around in her car looking for places, and finally she found us a little cottage with many little rooms at 5 Calder St. for $20 a month."
–Adolph Gottlieb, writing from Gloucester, in a postcard to his friend Paul Bodin, July 1934
Esther Gottlieb sailing with Adolph in Cape Ann, c. 1934.
Adolph Gottlieb sailing in Cape Ann, summer 1934.
"We are down to our regular routine now. I paint in the morning while Esther keeps busy with mending or some other household activity. Afternoons we sail regularly, weather permitting. Have been doing watercolors and was not particularly pleased with results until this past week when I did a few that I like. I must admit they are quite abstract."
–Adolph Gottlieb in a letter to Paul Bodin, August 1943
Fishermen in East Gloucester, MA c. 1942-1944. Photos courtesy of the Barnett Newman Foundation.
Fishermen in East Gloucester, MA c. 1942-1944. Photos courtesy of the Barnett Newman Foundation.
"Gloucester is quite different these days. Far from being a decaying fishing town, it is sort of thriving. The fishermen are almost all unionized. The activity is entirely due to the new freezing process which enables the middle west, in fact the whole country, to get fresh fish. We were watching the procedure at the new community fish pier and freezing plant this morning. Everything possible is done by machines and on conveyor belts; for example, a special machine for scaling the fish. Also, red fish which formerly were thrown away are now caught in huge quantities and used for fillets. They are very popular out west."
–Adolph Gottlieb in a letter to Paul Bodin, July 1941
Adolph Gottlieb, Untitled (Gloucester Studies), c. 1934, crayon on paper, 11 3/4 x 8 7/8"
Adolph Gottlieb, Untitled (Two Gloucester Sketches), c. 1935, ink on paper, 8 1/2 x 5 1/2"
Adolph Gottlieb, Untitled (Two Gloucester Sketches), c. 1935, ink on paper, 8 1/2 x 5 1/2"
Adolph Gottlieb, Untitled (Two Gloucester Sketches), c. 1935, ink on paper, 8 1/2 x 5 1/2"
"We have been too busy patching up the old boat to paint, but ready to start now. Lots of activity here this summer, seeing the Averys among others from N.Y. Wish you could get up for a while anyway."
–Adolph Gottlieb in a postcard to Paul Bodin, July 1941
A postcard sent to Paul Bodin from Gloucester, MA, July 7, 1941.
Installation view of “Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea” at the Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, MA, 6/30/2026 – 9/27/2026, Photograph: Steve Rosenthal. Gottlieb works (from left to right): Blue at Night (1957), Under and Over (1959), Sea and Tide (1952), along with late paintings by Mark Rothko and Milton Avery.
Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea will be on view at the Cape Ann Museum through September 27th and will then travel to The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., opening October 24, 2026.