Advance Screening of New Documentary About Granite State Icon on July 26
Film Honors Abbott Thayer, Protector of Monadnock
[DUBLIN] — New Hampshire’s scenic landscapes have inspired poets, writers, and painters for centuries. Some of these artists’ works are lost to the ages, but others endure well beyond their creator’s lifetimes. Such is the case of Abbott Thayer, an artist who worked and lived at the base of Mount Monadnock in Dublin at the turn of the last century. His paintings, many of which are in private collections or at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., are now recognized as among the best of his generation — which included such luminaries as John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, and Winslow Homer. But Thayer, who grew up in Keene, N.H., should be as famous for his non-artistic pursuits. His other notable accomplishments include helping to permanently protect Mount Monadnock, pioneering the idea of bird sanctuaries, and interestingly enough, creating the foundation for modern camouflage.
Now on the 159th anniversary of his birth, the life of this brilliant artist and passionate naturalist is explored in a new one-hour documentary, INVISIBLE: Abbott Thayer and the Art of Camouflage. The Colonial Theatre in Keene will host a special advance screening on Saturday, July 26th, at 7 p.m. General Admission is $10. VIP seating is $25 and includes admission to a catered reception at the Historical Society of Cheshire County after the film. For more information, please contact the theater at 603-352-2033 or online at www.thecolonial.org.
The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests is co-sponsoring the screening. The Forest Society, as the non-profit conservation organization is also known, has a long connection with the “mountain that stands alone,” a rough translation of the word “Monadnock” in the language of the Abenaki Indians.
“We wanted to honor the Forest Society partly because its first employee, Philip Ayres, worked side-by-side with Abbott Thayer back in 1913 to conserve Mount Monadnock,” said Denise Couture, co-producer of INVISIBLE: Abbott Thayer and the Art of Camouflage. “The mountain was a huge inspiration for much of Thayer’s artwork and his nature studies, which led to his theories on camouflage.”
“Since 1901 the Forest Society has been working to protect the iconic landscapes of New Hampshire,” said Jack Savage, vice president for communications and outreach for the organization. “We applaud the producers of the film for bringing attention not only to Thayer’s artwork and nature studies but to his conservation efforts as well.”
Today 5,000 acres of Mount Monadnock are permanently protected, including 4,000 acres owned by the Forest Society, which leases a portion of those lands to the State of New Hampshire as part of Monadnock State Park. The Forest Society continues to work to protect and steward one of the world’s most climbed peaks.
INVISIBLE: Abbott Thayer and the Art of Camouflage, a presentation of PRP Productions, was produced by Pamela Peabody, directed by Carl Colby, co-produced by Denise Couture and edited by Virginia Quesada. Peabody co-produced the award-winning documentary Robert Rauschenberg: Inventive Genius for PBS’ American Masters, among other films. Carl Colby’s credits include Franz Kline Remembered and Zeffirelli’s Tosca, which won an Emmy award. Couture, a journalist and producer, most recently served as consulting producer on The Pact, a Cine-award-winning television documentary. Quesada’s credits include work on the PBS series Journey to Planet Earth. For more information, please contact Denise Couture at (202) 285-6190 or denise.couture@yahoo.com.
The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests (www.forestsociety.org) is the state’s oldest and largest non-profit land conservation organization. In order to preserve the quality of life New Hampshire residents know today, the goal of the Forest Society, in partnership with other conservation organizations, private landowners, and government, is to conserve an additional one million acres of the state’s most significant natural lands for trails, parks, farms, and forests by 2026.