Finally, a couple of works that just caught my attention during my recent visit, and some thoughts they evoked in me. It seems like my life in art has become rich enough over the past 65 years that I can find comfort and connection in nearly any Art Museum I visit. That this gallery photo. The horse sculpture is by artist Deborah Butterfield. She is legendary for her iconic sculptures of horses created from "found" objects: discarded metal, driftwood, kindling, mud... As such they are deceptively simple appearing in their physical construction; however, that they are are bronze casts made from molds created off of the found object prototypes. These are then treated with various elements to attain the uncanny resemblance of the original artifacts. The process alone is a work of detailed and intricate artistry.
How do I know this? I attended her Artists-in-Residence lecture at the Phillip's Collection as the guest of a friend. (The next year, I was gifted the same and attended a lecture by another great American sculptor, Martin Puryear.) I cannot account for the graces that have been afforded me like this. I can only be responsible for allowing my mind to draw from when appropriate and hopefully (though never a guarantee!) accurately.
Now you know that I bring to every Butterfield equine sculpture --which also evinces such a powerful and palpable personality from what is by all imaginable description refuse and/or junk! It's really miraculous in its own way.
"Taking the Oath and Drawing Rations," 1865
- John Rogers (1829 - 1904)
This is a plaster cast. It's honestly quite beautiful and captures a moment in history. After the end of the Civil War, the South in particular was devastated and things like the spread of disease and lack of food threatened to exacerbate the horrors. The nation responded by providing an influx of rations; however, in order to obtain them, citizens of the confederacy had to swear an oath of allegiance to the United States of America in the presence of a Union soldier.
I am a great fan of these works of egalitarian art. My grandmother owned one depicting a scene around a hearth. Likewise, my cousin also owned one in the style of Frederick Remington with cowboy on horseback about to overcome a fleeing bison. Both of these enthralled my childhood imagination. Alas, both have also slipped from my view in years past with the dissolution of estates that I was not engaged in. Yet, the magic they create is as fresh as it was when I first discovered those other ones.
"The Soldier," circa 1962
- Jamie Wyeth (1946 - present)
Jamie Wyeth is the Grandson of N. C. Wyeth, and the son of Andrew Wyeth. He is, 80 years of age, the end of a modern 3 generational family dynasty of American artists. It's hard to find a more prolific familial heritage of artists outside of the Charles Willson Peale clan that just inundated early American art on so many levels. The thing that I find most intriguing in Jamie's work is it's latent homo-erotic nuances. Certainly NOT writ large throughout his oeuvre, but undeniably present throughout. I'm certainly open to understanding it as platonic, too. I mean, there's nothing wrong with that.
"Along the Harlem River," 1925
- Marvin Gray Johnson (1896 - 1934)
Isn't this just delicious? I love the tension between realism and abstraction inherent in the design. It reminded me in a connective way of the works of artists from Charles Sheeler (1883 - 1965) to George Bellows (1882 - 1925) to Thomas Pollock Anshultz (1851 - 1912). But it's not any of their works. It belongs to Marvin Gray Johnson who may share a tragically short life (38 years) with George Bellows (only 43), yet remains uniquely African American. Now, when you visit most museums, you will be hard-pressed to discover works by Black artists. At the Delaware Art Museum you won't. Back to it's earliest paintings by American Artists, the work of Black painters is present, and celebrated.
"Weathervane and Roof Gable with Birds," circa 1920
- Ethel Franklin Betts Bains (1877 - 1959)
I loved all of the choices the artist made. At every level: Background, Mid-range, and Foreground there is a juxtaposition of choices: Geometric versus organic, depth of light versus shadow, cool versus warm colors...it's a mash-up that works to offer an interesting sense of movement and focus. It's just a lovely painting with tons of embedded intuition. And it's a painting by a woman. Paintings by women are also prevalent throughout the collection.
The simple yet profound idea of presenting a diversity of artistic expression is a reality at the Delaware Museum of Art. I don't think it's possible to enter a gallery and see ONLY works by white men. That's a really radical and welcome aspect. One I just cherish with my visits.
