PHIPPSBURG

A Maine memorial service for renowned artist Will Barnet is a possibility this summer.

Barnet was 101 when he died Nov. 13 of what family members called “old age” in his New York City apartment.

Still living with his wife, Elena, Barnet continued painting until a power outage caused by Superstorm Sandy forced them out of their duplex at the National Arts Club in New York.

Ona Barnet, of Phippsburg, said her father had been visiting art galleries just prior to the storm.

A private funeral for family was held last week.

“We’ll consider something in Maine probably this summer,” Ona Barnet said. “He had so many connections here. The art world in Maine is very active.”

Will Barnet’s realistic paintings of dramatic images, using flat planes of color, were the essence of realism. Often, he used family members as models.

He also loved using the Maine coast as a backdrop.

He and his family began summering here in the 1970s. In 1984, Ona Barnet purchased Rock Gardens Inn, a seasonal seaside resort in Phippsburg.

“He started summering every year,” Ona Barnet recalled. “More and more, and it was up to nine weeks last summer.”

Will Barnet frequently visited the Farns- worth in Rockland, the Portland Museum of Art, art museums at Colby College and Bowdoin College. Last year, he did a show with his granddaughter, Ellie Barnet, at the Aucocisco Gallery in Portland.

“It was huge for him to do that with her,” Ona Barnet said.

Ellie Barnet displays a touch of her grandfather’s realism with her landscape and figurative work, her mother said.

“You can definitely see some similarities,” Ona Barnet said, “but her work is her own.”

lgrard@timesrecord.com