Artist’s Love Story Documented Through Greeting Cards To Be Displayed At Hamptons-Based Museum

The Bridgehampton Museum is commemorating the charming love story of the late Claus Hoie, who passed away in 2007, and his wife Helen, who passed away in 2001.

Mr. Hoie emigrated from Stavanger, Norway to America at the age of 12. During World War II, he served in a Norwegian-American battalion whose goal was to help liberate his homeland. The couple met sometime after he returned from war. While initially they lived in New York City, eventually the Hoies moved east, settling in East Hampton.

“The late Claus Hoie may be known for his watercolors of East End life, past and present, from noble whaling captains to the agricultural charms of the farm stand, but a new exhibition will highlight another side of the Norwegian-American artist — his whimsical greeting cards,” explained John Eilertsen of The Bridgehampton Museum.

The Museum’s latest exhibition, The Hallmarks of Hoie: An Invitation to the Imagination, will highlight intimate moments throughout the couple’s relationship. “With them [the greeting cards], Hoie celebrated his love for his wife, Helen, marking their wedding anniversary, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and her March birthday over their 45 years together,” Eilertsen noted.

Mr. Hoie, who often used his local scenery as a muse, also found inspiration from the area’s maritime history. His work has been exhibited both internationally at Akershus Museum in his native Norway, as well as locally at Bridgehampton Museum, Clinton Academy Museum in East Hampton, East Hampton Marine Museum in Amagansett, and Guild Hall in East Hampton, and at many more prestigious establishments.

The pieces from this particular exhibition were gifted to the Museum. “The artwork was donated to the Bridgehampton Museum earlier this year by the Helen and Claus Hoie Charitable Foundation,” he added.

The Hallmarks of Hoie: An Invitation to the Imagination will open on Wednesday, January 3 and remain on view through Thursday, February 15.

Admission is a $5 donation to the Museum.

The Bridgehampton Museum is located at 2368 Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton. For more information, call 631-537-1088 or visit bridgehamptonhistoricalsociety.org.