Fleet Gallery, with its 80-foot skylight illuminating both the Fleet and Robert Douglas Hunter spaces with natural light.

Robert Douglas Hunter (left), with Ed Donovan, senior vice president of Fleet.

DENNIS, MASS. – The new Robert Douglas Hunter Gallery and Fleet Gallery at the Cape Museum of Fine Arts opened to the public on Saturday, February 3. These galleries feature exhibitions with paintings and drawings from the CMFA’s permanent collection and from private collections.

Together the skylighted spaces are dedicated to the presentation of special exhibitions and represent the first part of the $1.5 million Phase II construction project to be opened during the course of the millennial year – also the CMFA’s 20th anniversary year.

“Namesakes: Paintings by Robert Douglas Hunter and works from the Fleet Collection” will run to April 15. This exhibition will feature paintings and drawings from the CMFA’s permanent collection and from private collectors.

Hunter is one of the most distinguished living painters of the Boston School and he is known primarily for his landscapes and still lifes. His technique is derived from William Paxton, Edmund Tarbell and Joseph DeCamp through his mentors Henry Hensche and Ives Gammell.

“Looking at nature,” says Hunter, “with profound curiosity based on the art of seeing and observing with respect to the works of people who come before you – those are the keys to composition.” A member of the Guild of Boston Artists, he has been awarded more than 30 national and regional prizes, including the first John Singleton Copley Award.

Robert Douglas Hunter is being honored by the CMFA board of trustees and many of his friends for his long association and influence on the art of the region and his dedication to the mission of the museum. He has been a member of the board of trustees for nine years and also served on the museum’s acquisitions committee. He and his wife Elizabeth have made many wonderful gifts of art to the museum including paintings by the artist himself as well as Ives Gammell, Boris Margo, Henry Hensche and more.

Fleet Gallery will display works from the Fleet Corporation Collection. The CMFA exhibition features works by internationally renowned artists associations with the region – primarily Cape Cod in addition to Boston and Providence, sites of two other Fleet regional headquarters. Among the artists presented are Robert Motherwell, Helen Frankenthaler, Benny Andrews, Michael Mazur and Dale Chihuly.

The Cape Museum of Fine Arts is located on Route 6A, Dennis Village, on the campus of the Cape Playhouse Center for the Arts. The CMFA features six additional galleries for the exhibition of its permanent collection and offers films, lectures and other educational programs. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 AM to 5 PM and Sunday 1 to 5 PM. For further information, call 508/385-4477.