Graven Images 

Michael Rothschild

The Monson Arts Gallery is pleased to announce its summer exhibition, Graven Images: Stone, Wood, Copper, Steel, Bone – featuring Michael Rothschild’s first exhibition in the United States.

Michael Rothschild is the author of Wondermonger, an acclaimed collection of modern tales and folklore set in the woods of Maine. “I can think of no other writer who so captures the terror and grandeur of the North Woods,” wrote the Washington Post. “Mythmaking at its finest,” said The New York Times Book Review, “…the devotedly beating heart of one who has the careful ability to mold and chisel his stories into living, breathing, works of art.”  It is no coincidence that his drawings, graphic work, and sculpture share the same vivid power. Sketches, linocuts, etchings on copper, and finally lead, stone or wood lead him to what he is after. Invariably, the raw materials are found near at hand. While his work has been shared in lecture and display in Beijing, Xian, and Nanjing, China and is in private collections in this country, this will be his first public exhibition in the United States.

It is not an accident that the village of Monson, home of the slate quarry, has been chosen.  Rothschild often uses the deep black Monson slate for its delicate strength. By exhibiting these works in Monson, he is bringing the quarried stones home in a new form.

The exhibition will show a collection of precious obsessions. The drawings that inspired etchings accompany the sculptures. Each medium has its own power over the subject. The grain of the wood and stone guide the form. Human figures, often of motherhood, and creatures of the sea, sky, rivers, and land dominate the work in all mediums.

Michael Rothschild was born in Bangor, Maine. All his adult life he has lived on a 200-year-old farm in the hills of western Maine.  An orchard of old-strain apple trees–Baldwin, Wealthy and Deane–surrounds the farm where the extended family raise Jersey cows, Suffolk sheep, and maintain large gardens. 

The exhibition runs from June 13th through October 12th, 2026, with the opening reception on June 20^th from 2pm to 4 PM at the Monson Arts Gallery, 8 Greenville Road in Monson, Maine. Rothschild will give a reading from his newly released book, Sculpture and Tales, from 4pm – 5pm at the Moore Studio Building, 3 Tenney Hill Rd in Monson. 

On view June 13, 2026 – Oct 12, 2026 

Opening Reception: Saturday June 20th, 2026

2pm – 4pm – Refreshments sponsored by the Monson General Store

4pm-5pm – Reading from Sculpture and Tales

Hours

Monday – Friday: 11:00pm – 5:00pm

Saturday: 10:00pm – 5:00pm

Sunday: 12:00pm – 5:00pm

Or By Appointment: Contact gallery@monsonarts.org

The Monson Arts Gallery is located at 8 Greenville Rd, Monson ME

Call 207-997-3205 to reach the gallery store during open hours. 

Looking for information about the Monson Gallery Store?

Call 207-997-3205 to learn more about works by local artists and authors or email Jfriedrich@pinelandfarms.org.