Albert F. Poole

American (1853-1939)

Born in Massachusetts in 1853, Bert Poole decided to pursue an artistic career in 1880 after working as a clerk and school principal.  He completed nearly fifty views of New England communities, seven of which were in Maine, including Bar Harbor and Monhegan Island. From 1905 to 1919 he was listed in the Boston Directories as a “bird’s eye specialist.” He was known for using pen and pencil rather than photography.

Poole was working on Monhegan as early as 1898 and completed many drawings of the island. In 1907 he bought land from the Sterling estate and had William Stanley build his studio in 1910. In 1914, eighteen painters working on the island that summer, including Frederick Waugh George Bellows and Poole, held an exhibition.

Poole studied with Tommaso Jularis in Boston. He was a member of the Quincy Artist League and American Artists Professional League. His work was exhibited at the Boston Art Club from 1896-1906 and at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts annual exhibition in 1912.  Poole’s works are held in the collections of the Boston Public Library, Boston City Hall, Cambridge City Hall, Monhegan Museum of Art & History and Maine Historic Preservation Commission.