The lecture will be followed by an opening reception for the Payson Collection in the museum's lobby. Paintings, watercolors and drawings by Maurice Prendergast, John Singer Sargent and James McNeill Whistler reflect American artists' interest in the French Impressionist style. Two portraits by the 18th-century English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds and two works by Andrew Wyeth add to the range of the collection. John Whitney Payson and his family moved the collection to the Portland Museum of Art in 1991. It is on loan to Colby College for one semester every two years.
Admission is free, and the museum is accessible to persons with disabilities.