Heroes

Aldro Hibbard Winter Stream

Every artist has a few heroes that have come before them.  Painters that they look to for inspiration or information.  Heroes should motivate you to paint better. The list may grow as the artist grows and in writing this, I notice a few on my list that were influencial at first, but I no longer look to them as much. I still love their work, but I find it is important to continually study work that speaks to you in new ways.

I have a few to share today.  The list is longer than this, but best shared in small amounts.

The only living artist on my list was one of my first influences, Russell Chatham.  His work has an abstract quality to it that I love. I bought his One Hundred Paintings book right out of college.

• Aldro Hibbard.  A New England painter who structures his brushstrokes in a way that I find intriging.
• Emile Gruppe.  A contemporary of Hibbard.  You can see their work together in a wonderful small gallery in Jeffersonville, Vermont. They painted in the area.
• John Carlson for his beautiful ability with trees and light.
• William Wendt. A California Impressionist who again uses brushwork and color to structure his paintings.
• Ernest Blumenshein.  A Taos painter.  The abstract qualities and design elements in his paintings are interesting to me.
• Last but not least, John Singer Sargent.  I think he shows up on every painter's list of heroes.



John Singer Sargent Home Fields

 

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December Calligraphy Oil 9 x 12

It is interesting to me that very often the paintings I consider my favorites do not sell as fast as some of my other paintings.  Many times, I like a painting because somehow I pushed myself in making it and had a breakthrough--something that is hard to explain to a patron, unless you have the opportunity to stand beside it and express your technical ideas.  Most collectors buy a painting because something in it speaks to them.  They don't buy it because while you were making it you had an aha moment.  

I attended the traveling Blumenshein exhibit a few years ago at the Denver Art Museum.  One of the stand out pieces was the painting they choose for the cover of their catalog--a beautiful painting of two Indian men.  I read more about it later and Blumenshein himself felt the painting was an important one for him.  It toured the country with a high price tag and never sold.  He eventually let go for what he paid for the materials to the Albuquerque High School.  Was it ahead of its time?  Was he too attached to it?