It has been an exhausting week and haven’t had time or energy to post. Really looking forward to the weekend. Was able to relax a bit today and steal away to the Smithsonian to see the small Walter Anderson exhibition at the Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building. The colorful tile work and fanciful design of the building compliment Anderson’s wild, colorful work but the noise pollution and rather science-fair set up of the exhibit are distracting. Only a handful of artists I can think of have ever captured the essence of the natural world, literature, and mythology so vividly and with such passion as Anderson (1903-1965) – William Blake comes immediately to mind, and he must have been an influence. I can also see the influence of Byzantine art, Chinese and Japanese printmaking, ceramics, and watercolors, Native American and African folk art, Diego Rivera, and the Fauves. This is the centennial of his birth, and the show features a selection of his watercolors, oil paintings, block prints, pottery works, woodcarvings, arts and crafts, and mural designs. A Lot of it reminds me of the nature and wildlife around my beach house if it were rendered by a depressed-schizo – which Anderson apparently was. Really fascinating and I’m sure all be going back to spend more time with his work – maybe I’ll buy the mongraph. I really want to go to the museum in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
Comments