I’m sure that you all are very excited that you have enrolled in this year’s mid-summer semester’s course, Art Appreciation 101.
Settle down, we will get to that soon enough.
We find ourselves back in the wilds of Maine, at our second campground, Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park.
I kid you not. In fact, Boo-Boo just ran past me carrying a Picnic Basket.
Our first campground, The Birches, on Lake Unpronounceable (see last year’s post from 7/24 titled ‘Maine, Lobster, et al’ ) did not have room for us for more than 3 days, so we moved eleven miles down the road to this one. And while we did not get the much-envied R-20 site at The Birches, the one that we were in was very nice, also with full views of that Lake.
Over here at Jellystone, we are totally in the woods. This may be the most remote and private site that we have ever been in. ‘Private’ being a relative word here because I am sure that the mosquitos take exception at not being considered as our neighbors.
We are back in Maine to visit Paula’s son Brian, his wife April, and the kids Stella, Jay, and Jay’s steady, Jayden. All really great kids, it’s good to see everyone again.
There are several outings planned, all over on the Coast, (which is in the running for the “If You Had to Sit in One Place For The Rest of Your Life…..” prize) and, in good time, worthy of their own future posts.
But back to today’s Subject and Lesson, Art Appreciation 101. One of the larger towns on the Maine Coast is Rockland. It has a significant harbor with a lighthouse at the end of a long breakwater and a very considerable downtown who’s original 1800’s architecture has been well preserved. Rockland is also the home of The Farnsworth Art Museum and Wyeth Center.
The key words in that title are ‘Art’ and ‘Wyeth’.
I am fairly sure that most, if not all, of you are familiar with the Wyeth family’s artwork. If not by name, at least by sight.
The progenitor of this family is N.C. Wyeth, whose artwork illustrated many an early 1900’s editions of books such as, Robinson Crusoe, Kidnapped, Treasure Island, The Last of the Mohicans….. and the list goes on. His works were as dramatic as their subjects and earned him his well-deserved praise and success.
In 1917, his son Andrew was born. And as he grew he found himself in his father’s studio being taught the basics of art. While N.C. was not a task master, he did insist that young Andrew become acquainted with the various methodology and techniques of painting and sketching. Apparently N.C. did his job well because Andrew grew into one of the most (if not the most) successful American artists of the 20th century. If you are not familiar with Andrew, you will be after I show you his most famous painting, Christina’s World.
See, I told you that you would know that one!
This is where the ‘Art Appreciation’ enters our lesson and it’s all personal and very subjective. I say subjective because we don’t get to decide what is Art and what isn’t. We do get to decide what kind of art we like. Most of us are not fans of Modern Art, i.e., those large canvases with the paint just strewn about (in our opinion) somewhat randomly until the desired point is reached. From that extreme to a highly detailed ‘Pen and Ink’ sketch of a locomotive, works of art are obviously many and varied.
Ok Don… so where are you taking us?
Here is that answer. If you’ve gotten this far into this post (and many others) you have by now realized that I like to learn things. Back in the 1990’s I was first introduced to the Wyeth’s, and especially Andrew, just by way of being in this part of Maine. The Wyeth family summered here. They had a home in Cushing where Andrew met his neighbors, many of which became subjects of his paintings. Christina Olson of Christina’s World lived nearby with her brother. Obviously she was the subject of that painting, as was that house. The house and grounds are still there, part of art history and can be toured. Many of Andrew’s paintings are of different parts of that house.
So, while up here visiting I became interested in Andrew’s works. I learned how he approached a subject, studied it, did preliminary sketches and ‘studies’ as he called them and when he was satisfied, he finished the final work. This was a revelation to me. I always pictured artists standing in front of a subject, funny hat tilted to one side, and replicating exactly what was in front of them. Well, that is one of the ways to paint, but another is left to the artist’s interpretation, and they get to paint what they want, they get at add, or subtract, whatever they want, in order to have their painting to express what they want it to when it is finished. Somewhat like an author who use words to paint a picture in our mind, an artist uses pictures to paint words (emotions?) in our minds.
And we get to interpret those words for ourselves.
That revelation was when I began to really appreciate art.
I dove into Andrew’s works, bought several books, and wished that I were rich enough to afford one of his paintings. Alas, I would need to be content with the reproductions that were in those books that I bought.
While going through one, I turned the page and there before me was a full spread of one of his works titled, Her Room. It is a painting of the living room of his wife Betsey and his home on the St. George River in Cushing, Maine. The story goes something like this.
Their kids were out in a boat and there was some anticipation and consternation about that day. The hour was getting late as can be seen by the shadows cast through the windows. Suddenly the wind blew the door open with a bang and that moment was frozen in Andrew’s mind.
This became the inspiration for the painting.
And… this is the fun part; I get to decide if Andrew was successful in conveying those feelings of that day in that particular work of art. For me, that anticipatory open door with the long shadows, coupled with the islands seen in the background through the windows, and the simplicity of the room itself draws one back to that open door, waiting for the kids to finally enter.
Well, by now you know who my favorite artist is and which of his works affects me the most.
While we were in Rockland I was able to visit the Farnsworth where they had a very nice exhibit of Andrew’s preliminary sketches of several of his works. And… across the street at the Wyeth Center there were more examples of his and his family’s artwork (his son Jamie is also an accomplished artist).
But alas, no Her Room.
I went back across the street to the Farnsworth and asked the desk person how I would be able to get information on particular pieces and where they may be exhibited in whatever art museum. She asked me which piece I was referring to and I said , Her Room.
She looked up at me and said with a smile, “Why, it’s across the street at the Wyeth Center!”
I gave her what was probably an incredulous look as I said, “I was just over there, I’m sure that I wouldn’t have missed it!”
“Let me call over there, “ she replied.
Phone in hand…..
“Upstairs?”
“Hmmm…. Not enough staff today?”
“Ok, I see…. Thank you“
“Unfortunately sir, we don’t have enough staff today to open all of the exhibits…. insurance regulations, I hope you understand. Maybe tomorrow? We will know by opening time if we have enough staff for the day.”
Doing some quick calculations, I realized that with Rockland being over an hour away already, and not being able to find out until opening time, well that would take up most of the day.
“Ok, Thank you.”
“Where are you from sir?”
“Texas.”
So close, yet so far….. Maybe next year.