Painting of the Day, December 30, 2011

By Donna Poulton

Anton J. Rasmussen, Delicate Arch (Study), 1995 oil on canvas on masonite, 36 x 48 in. Private Collection.  Credit: Painters of Utah’s Canyons and Deserts

Anton J. Rasmussen’s Delicate Arch (1995) is his most widely recognized work. Commissioned by the Salt Lake International Airport and painted on location, the towering image of Delicate Arch is 23 feet high by 18 feet wide; a size worthy of its subject.

Delicate Arch at the Salt Lake International Airport.  Credit: 3M30

Like Thomas Moran, whose landscapes were not composed for literal reference, but rather to evoke emotional impressions of a setting, Rasmussen's paintings represent: 

"… a composite of different perspectives and different rock formations, and the palette is developed out of visual sensations collected over time … Many people have commented that they’ve seen the particular view I painted ‘just that way,’ even though it would be impossible to do so.  I have decided that as one recalls the experience of visiting the southern Utah landscape, the experience is idealized … the experiences are combined in the viewer’s mind to form a single recollection of the experience."

The multi-colored clouds and spiraling activity in Delicate Arch are loud, crowding for attention. The clouds are a softer version of the repeated motifs seen in the rocks and are important elements in understanding the decay of the rock itself. Of this process Rasmussen notes that there is a lot of “rhythm and movement, the sort of things that would have carved that rock out over the many millions of years.”

Image of the Day, December 28, 2011

By Donna Poulton

"Nature is never finished."- Robert Smithson

Credit: informedmindstravel

Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty has been described by Greg Lindquist as “arguably the most famous, least experienced work in the earthworks/land art canon.” While virtually every art student studies Smithson’s ideas about entropy and the death of art, few will ever experience his actual work. Situated two hours north of Salt Lake City, the sculpture was created on the shore of the Great Salt Lake near Rozel Point. The drive to the site, over an axle-breaking dirt road, is one of many challenges for visitors trying to get a glimpse of the Jetty. A victim of the lake’s drought and flood cycle, the Spiral Jetty has spent much its 42-year existence under water. Smithson died in a plane crash three years after the Jetty was built, but the ensuing confusion and impediments created by the natural flood cycle would certainly have supported his ideas of entropy.

Credit: informedmindstravel

Credit: aur2899

Credit: aur2899

Credit: snevets.d

Painter of the Day, December 26, 2011

By Donna Poulton

Logan Maxwell Hagege, Unveiling the Clouds, c. 2010, oil on linen, 80 x 52 in. Credit: loganhagege

I’d like to see this large-scale painting in person. At 80 inches high, the clouds in Unveiling the Clouds would be a dominating presence in any setting. Logan Maxwell Hagege lists N.C. Wyeth and Maynard Dixon as among the artists who have inspired him.  While the themes in his work are often a nod to the past, more recent work such as The Sage Trail depict images in the present with American Indians riding in contemporary clothing.  I will enjoy seeing where these new themes take him.

Logan Maxwell Hagege, The Sage Trail, 2011, oil on linen, 50 x 60 in. Credit: loganhagege

You may also want to browse through previous posts:

N.C. Wyeth

Maynard Dixon

Painting of the Day, December 25, 2011

Brian Kershisnik, Nativity ©, 2006, oil on canvas, 88 x 204 in. Credit: Brian Kershisnik

Detail. Brian Kershisnik, Nativity ©, 2006, oil on canvas, 88 x 204 in. Credit: Brian Kershisnik

Detail 2. Brian Kershisnik, Nativity ©, 2006, oil on canvas, 88 x 204 in. Credit: Brian Kershisnik

Painting of the Day, December 24, 2011

By Donna Poulton

Charles Russell knew how to create a cold winter scene in the Montana mountains he knew so well.  The violets and graduating blues in the mountains, icicles hanging from the roof of a log cabin and the radiant warmth of the interior make this a scene I’d like to walk into.  Titled Christmas Meat, this is one of many Christmas images Russell painted over the years.

Charles Russell, Christmas Meat, 1915, Watercolor on paper, 26 x 34 in. Credit: The Athenaeum.com