The Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis will open an exhibition of works by Mary Crocker Fassett with a reception on August 22, from 2 to 4 pm. The museum describes Fassett as a self-taught artist whose creative practice spanned more than 80 years, and whose work moved across drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, engraving and etching.
The museum’s event listing presents Fassett as a Boston native who made Truro her home and who lived there from 1980 until her death in 2016. It notes that she was born in 1915 and that much of her art was made in her home studio in Truro. According to the museum, her long career included drawings in charcoal and ink, paintings in oil, egg tempera and pastel, intaglio engraving and etchings, ceramics, and sculptural materials.
Fassett’s imagery, as summarized by the museum, drew on several sources. She said in the early 2000s that she was inspired by Renaissance painters, and her work includes portraits as well as macabre scenes reminiscent of Bosch and Bruegel. The museum also says she was influenced by the landscapes of Switzerland, France, Truro and other places where she lived. In later years, she increasingly painted from imagination, translating feelings drawn from music and novels into visual art.
The exhibition announcement places Fassett within a broader local art history that the museum has helped document and present. Her work has been shown locally at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Castle Hill Center for the Arts and the Schoolhouse Gallery, among other venues, according to the museum listing. The museum also notes that she was the daughter of portrait painter Truman Edmund Fassett and studied at Sarah Lawrence College in New York.
Founded by artists in 1981, the Cape Cod Museum of Art says it is dedicated to Cape Cod art through its collection and programming. The institution’s website lists 'Mary Crocker Fassett' among its current exhibitions, alongside 'David Phillips,' 'CCOSI Outside 2026,' 'CCOSI Inside 2026' and 'Garden Party Exhibition.' The museum is located at 60 Hope Lane in Dennis and says it is open year-round.
The August 22 reception is scheduled at the museum from 2 to 4 pm. The exhibition opening is one of several August programs listed by the museum, which also includes workshops, performances and a Free Family Fun Day later in the month. For the Fassett exhibition, the museum’s description centers on the artist’s eight-decade practice and the range of media she used over the course of her career.
