New Light, Reclaimed by Silence

 

I discovered this paining a little closer to home.  It was on display at the Heard Museum here in Phoenix.  The artist is Shonto Begay an indigenous, Navajo artist.   He grew up on the reservation in northern Arizona herding sheep and watching his mother weave rugs. His father was a medicine man.  His art captures the striking beauty of Navajo land along with the realities of modern reservation life.

This painting is called "New Light, Reclaimed by Silence". I think what drew me to this particular painting was that little, decaying trailer.  It gave me a feeling of nostalgia for my childhood when I would travel all over the United State with my parents and sisters always camping in a either a trailer or camper.  I have many fond memories of those family trips.  The little disintegrating trailer made me wonder what ever happened to our old trailer.  That was so long ago, I bet it might look something like this depiction if it exists at all.

You can see more of Shonto Begay's magical works at this link.

Bronze Ballet

 

This is a painting that fascinated me when I visited the Tate Britain Museum in London.  It has such an abstract surrealistic look to it.  Naturally, I took a photo so I could investigate it and learn more.  The artist is Edward Wadsworth (1889-1949) and the painting is called "Bronze Ballet".  Wadsworth was part of a modernist art movement called "Vorticism" which had been formed in 1914 by Wyndham Lewis.  

Wadsworth's mother died of sepsis nine days after he was born.  His father was devastated and had a hard time relating to his son.  He had an aunt who cared for him and left him with a yearly income allowing hime to pursue a career in art.  Wadsworth's most famous painting is called "Dazzle Ships in Drydock at Liverpool." It can be found in the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.  

While researching this artist, I found another of his paintings called "Triangles" painted in 1948.  I love this painting.  I wish I knew where I could see it in person.   It might be in a private collection because I wasn't able to find a museum location in my searches. 

On The Road....

 

I was recently drawn to this painting in an exhibit of Asian art at the Phoenix Art Museum.  This painting is called "On The Road To Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib" and it was painted by artist Saira Wasim.  The painting depicts a group of people joyfully heading to the temple or Gurdwara.  For many years the temple at Kartarpur was not accessible to Sikhs in India since the partition of 1947.  In 2019 that changed with the opening of the Kartarpu Corridor a pilgrimage route that allows Sikhs to cross about 3 miles into Pakistani territory to visit the site.  The artist is celebrating the opening with this painting.  

Saira Wasim was born in Lahore Pakistan but now resides in the Chicago area.  She is a contemporary artist who uses a miniature style of painting making primarily political and cultural art.  You can see more of her art on her instagram site.  Her works all pop with color and vividness. 

Flaming June

 

In 2016, I visited the home of Sir Frederic Leighton (1830-1896), an English artist known for his Victorian paintings and sculptures.  His work often depicted biblical and classical subject matter.  The painting he is most known for is this one called Flaming June.  It is now owned by the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico.  The photo above was taken by a friend when it was on display at an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.  It visited Leighton's home for a short period of time in 2016 but the timing of my trip there was off by a month and I missed seeing it.  I was also unable to go to New York when It was there for a short period of time but luckily my friend saw it and sent me this photo.  I wish I could have seen it at Leighton's home where it was originally painted.

It is a beautiful painting with an interesting history that can be seen here.  It was missing from view for a period of 30 years and was seen in a shop window in 1960.  That was a period of time when Victorian era paintings were not popular.  It sold at auction to the museum in Puerto Rico for $140.00 the equivilent of $1,126.00 in today's money.  If it looks familiar, it's because it is widely reproduced in posters and other media.