Perspective from the sky: Remembering Yvonne Helene Jacquette

December 15, 1934 – April 23, 2023 

In 1969, Yvonne Helene Jacquette took a transcontinental flight, sparking a fascination for the massiveness and complexity of urban America and the unique views from above to depict it. This became an artistic strategy that would become a hallmark of her career. Last month, Jacquette passed away, leaving behind an indelible perspective on American art. 

“Yvonne was beloved by fellow painters and was able to bridge generations of art making through her unique vision that was poignant, dramatic, and subtle,” shares Mark Bessire, Judy and Leonard Lauder Director of the Portland Museum of Art. “Both her early work and more recent paintings are emblematic of her wildly original artistic eye and powerful energy.” 

That wild artistic eye and energy is apparent throughout Dragon Cement Co., Thomaston, Maine II, one of Jacquette’s many works in the PMA’s collection. For decades, Jacquette and her family split their time between New York and Searsmont, Maine, and in the 1990’s Jacquette began depicting industrial landscapes in Maine. Dragon epitomized the artist’s style, with swirls of blue, dark green, and pockets of electric yellow bringing an otherwise overlooked factory to life and asking the viewer to reconsider the factory in the context of Maine’s revered MidCoast landscapes. 

Yvonne Helene Jacquette’s artwork is included in the collections of more than 40 museums, including the Portland Museum of Art, ME; Brooklyn Museum, NY; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; The Museum of Modern Art, NY; Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA; and Whitney Museum of American Art, NY.