Monday, May 19, 2025
Art works at The Clark.
I took a number of photos of works of art displayed at The Clark: they permitted photos (1) of works owned by The Clark and (2) without flash. Here is a sample of a few:
Winslow Homer:(1836-1910)
West Point, Prouts Neck, 1900. Homer considered this one of his best paintings. The scene is close to his studio, which is located at Prouts Neck, ME, about 12 miles south of Portland, ME. It is possible to tour his studio out of the Portland Museum of Art, by reservation only. We have never done that, but maybe we still could. Homer wrote of this painting, "The picture is painted 15 minutes after sunset. . . . not one minute before." So he must have gone to the same spot, day after day, and set up to be ready to paint fifteen minutes after sunset each day. Of the paintings we saw, this is my favorite.
Here are three more paintings by Winslow Homer, of the same genre:
In the same gallery with Homer were works by an artist who was a contemporary of Homer, but represented a different region: Frederic Remington (1861-1909):
A solitary member of the Siksika (Blackfoot) Nation leans forward on his horse, gazing across the snowy landscape toward a distant encampment. The figure's pose, the horse's breath, and the glittering nightime sky create an almost palpable stillness and tension. The setting is likely what is now the province of Alberta, Canada, where Frederic Remington spent time in 1887 and 1890 and where the Siksika Nation is located today. The image is fictive, painted over a decade after after the artist's time in Canada. Remington's earlier work as an illustrator for Harper's Weekly and in particular his images of the American west, contributed to racist misconceptions about Indigenous life; this painting made later in his career, reflects a more sensiitve view.
Note the peculiar fact that all the soldiers look alike.
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