Saturday, January 22, 2011

Saturday Salon: A Favorite Painting


This is American painter, Thomas Hart Benton's (1889 - 1975) charming Birthday Painting for 12 year old Jessie. I love it. What a wonderful world Benton has created. Who wouldn't want to live in this little place on the edge of a greater place?I can hear the gulls calling, the water lapping, the soft sighs of summer. Perfect. But then I've always been a fan of Benton's swirling, energetic technique, his exuberant style. The energy is subdued here, but still apparent.

Besides, as Kenneth Graham observed:

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats...or with boats...In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter.
The Wind in the Willows 1908



6 comments:

  1. Not come across this artist before, Yvette - thanks for the 'introduction'! :-)

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  2. Been looking at more of the artwork on display here - how do you get all those pictures on here - I'd love to create a 'gallery' on my blog.
    (....envy, envy.... ;-p )

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  3. I love this painting! Does this not look like the PERFECT place to go for a weekend vacation?

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  4. Sue: Thomas Hart Benton is, I think, a quintessentially American painter, maybe that's why, Sue. I love his work. But he goes in and out of fashion. :)

    Oh jeez, Sue, I just copy the pictures to a file and then from the file you can link them to your post. OR you can use the link directly to your post, but more likely most of the pix are too big to be done this way. But sometimes it works.

    When you go to post, there's a little icon that allows you to put pix in the post. It's above and to the right of the 'posting box'.

    If I can do it, you can do it. I am hopelessly incompetent and it still surprises me that I'm doing this. HAHA!!!

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  5. Wallace: Yes, it does. I wouldn't mind spending a summer on one of those boats, just messing about. :)

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  6. Sue: If you mean to post pix on the sides of your blog, then just go to your design page and go to gadgets. Scroll down to Pictures. When the little box opens up you'll be able to add one pix at a time. It's clumsy but it works.

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