The Woodshed, Andrew Wyeth

  Andrew Wyeth's work can be controversial.  Some consider him a complete realist, others a romantic, and often, a man creating a statement of continuity in an changing world.  Like him or hate him, today's image certainly evokes feelings from all of us.
   Here we have dead crows, bright sun we do not see, a spare landscape and portrayed in an almost monochromatic arrangement.   Titled, The Woodshed, it is a tempera work done in 1945, measuring 33" x 56".   I have not been able to determine the owners of the work, but my reference book credits Mr. & Mrs. C. Porter Schutt, so it is possible it is still in their private collection.
   I find the date interesting. World War II is just ending.  I am not sure we can connect the two however, it is remarkable - two dead crows, two defeated nations.
  Wyeth has a talent for striking compositions, this being a perfect example.  Often, close up,  corners appear as abstract arrangements, but as the viewer pulls back, a realist image comes into view.  Examine the lower left corner, and allow most of the crow and its shadow to become one - an amazing design.
   In this work, the crows and their shadows are framed by shadows of the shed and the board lines are a rhythm pattern moving our eye across the work. The rectangle of the hill brings in color and balances the whole left side. The starkness of the land does not detract but heightens the drama created by the death of the crows.  This is not a land in bloom, it is not late spring.     
    So have you wondered why he titled the work, The Woodshed?  I have only one thought, but I would like to hear yours! 
  Make Art a part of your day, it's a beautiful thing to do.

Comments

  1. charguthSeptember 29, 2019 at 7:26 PM

    Yikes! Life in the country is rugged and I can identify. But this is a detailed painting of a coarse subject. If they were going to be dressed out for food, they wouldn't be hanging in the sun. Maybe they are predators to be disposed of. Why is one held by one leg??? I love his paintings. Every shadow and angle is meaningful to the composition. The limited pallet and contrast gives much drama to these simple unfortunate birds!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Art Expert On LineOctober 11, 2019 at 12:35 PM

    Yes, totally agree, Charguth! Drama is always a good word describing Wyeth's work. Thanks for commenting, I always enjoy your perceptive eye.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wayne Thiebaud, Sunset Streets

Image
   In giving title to this landscape, California artist, Wayne Thiebaud not only provides the location, but also the time of day.  Knowing that Thiebaud is a California artist provides the last clue to guessing the probably location.  Smartly, The San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art purchased this painting for its permanent collection in 1986, a year after it was completed.  Sunset Streets is an oil on canvas measuring 48" x 35".      Wayne Thiebaud was born in 1920 and resides in California. He is one of several artists creating a distinct California aesthetic using heavy pigment and exaggerated color.   He is best known for his commonplace objects, figures, and landscapes. of which this is a perfect example.    The composition of this work is amazing.  Right down the center, at a slight tilt is this blue-black stripe, K shape, beginning with a heavy base and capped with a large triangle of sorts.  The painting is a geometry lover's dream, completely dedicated to ever
Read more

Nature Abhors A Vacuum, Helen Frankenthraller

Image
  Today let us look at an acrylic painting on canvas by American artist Helen Frankenthraller (1928-2011).    Nature Abhors a Vacuum is a huge work of art measuring 103" high, 112" wide.  This is over 8 feet high and 9 feet long!  You can stand next to it at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.; and to do so would completely immerse yourself in this huge spread of color.   Nature Abhors a Vacuum was painted in 1973 and is a perfect example of a school of painting Frankenthraller helped develop called color field painting.  Here she stretched raw unprimed canvas on the floor and poured thinned acrylic paint on it.  In doing so she created floating fields of translucent color.  Being that the canvas was raw, the paint stuck to the fabric more like it was dyed, than brushed on. It was an exciting and new process!    Our title, Nature Abhors a Vacuum  immediately indicates a landscape, however I think it a disservice to confine our reaction to so simple an understan
Read more

Childe Hassam "The Avenue in Rain"

Image
    I probably should have saved this for the 4th of July, but that is a little far off and this work is among Childe Hassam's finest.      I have known of Childe Hassam (1859 - 1935) for a very long time, but only recently did Wikimedia straighten me out about the correct way to pronounce his first name.  It seems the "e" is silent; and his last name is pronounced as written, with two syllables.        From what I have read, Hassam was a pretty sharp guy, and possibly a little  arrogant.  He created 3,000 some works of art in his career and lived his entire adult life on the proceeds of their sale.  This is quite remarkable.  Most artists, (at least before 1930) had to supplement their income by teaching, commissioned portraits or careers outside the art field.  But Hassam figured out not only how to market his work, but also what subjects would be popular.  Timing is always a big issue, and he was at the forefront of marketing impressionist paintings to Americans.      
Read more