Jill Elisofon and André Racz in Boat 2

Jill Elisofon and André Racz in Boat 2

Jill Elisofon pulls on the white beard of André Racz who has a pipe in his mouth. They ride with some other friends on Jim Brown's lobster boat in Penobscot Bay, Maine in 1970. They were headed to Brimstone Island for a picnic. 

André Racz was a painter, sculptor, draughtsman, and printmaker. He was born in Cluj, Romania in 1916. Fleeing antisemitism with his brother Imre Racz, he moved to Portugal, and then Brazil. Invited in 1939 to the New York World's Fair, he stayed in New York, and married the soprano Teresa Orrego Salas in 1946. They had three children who would all later work in the arts and cinema in Santiago, Chile. He remarried to Claire Enge in 1962. He taught at Columbia University from 1951 until he retired in 1983 when he was named Professor Emeritus. "'Teaching is like gardening,' he told an interviewer in 1983. 'You put in a seed, but you don’t walk away from it. Not if you expect something to grow. Doing art, the person learns about himself, becomes self- ' critical, makes decisions. Confidence develops.'"
"Andre Racz, 77, Artist, Professor." Columbia University Record 20, no. 6 (1994). Accessed July 26, 2025.

When Photographer Eliot Elisofon was not traveling the world taking photos for LIFE Magazine, he came to Vinalhaven, Maine to rest and recoup. Eliot bought a farmhouse near Crockett Cove on Vinalhaven in 1941, built by Joel and Mary Jane Philbrook in 1843.
Daughter Elin writes, “My father always said his favorite place on earth was Vinalhaven and he meant it. Wherever he was, he was counting the days until he could return to the island. Here he would 'recharge his batteries' from grueling trips to Africa, Asia, the Pacific, or from battles with the publishers and editors he had to constantly prod into sharing his passion and understanding his vision. In Vinalhaven he could relax, soak up the beauty of the place, plant trees, flowers, and vegetables, paint in his studio, cook, and develop the lifelong friendships he treasured."
Elisofon, Elin. FEAST. (Vinalhaven, Maine: April, 1992)
These images are personal photographs taken by Eliot Elisofon on Vinalhaven and were not published during his lifetime.