Philip Barter was born in Boothbay but has spent much of his adult life north of Ellsworth in the village of Sullivan. Philip began creating art in the 1960s, spent the 70s lobstering to better provide for his growing family, and finally returned to making art full time in the 1980s.

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Philip Barter was born in Boothbay but has spent much of his adult life north of Ellsworth in the village of Sullivan. Philip began creating art in the 1960s, spent the 70s lobstering to better provide for his growing family, and finally returned to making art full time in the 1980s.

From the beginning, Philip’s brilliantly colored, modernist-influenced paintings and wood reliefs stood out from the myriad landscapes more traditional artists were creating. Arts writer Carl Little says of Philip, “The appeal of Barter’s stylized renderings of trees, clouds, and rivers is powerful. His ability to extract the essence of the landscape provokes marvel. His palette, often not for the faint of hue, underscores his lively vision.”

In 1992, BatesCollegebestowed on Philip Barter an honor that only a few of Maine’s finest artists receive: a 25-year retrospective. With a feature in Down East magazine, followed two years later with a spot on Charles Kuralt’s “Good Morning America,” the elder Barter’s career was thrown into high gear, where it has remained since.

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