Docent In Training - Working With Our Mentors

Hello again,

Tonight's class with our mentors was a lot of fun and very informative. I am always impressed with how much knowledge about art is possessed by all of the people I am lucky enough to study with at the Amon Carter.

Pat and I were able to share the expertise of the active docent Subie who is also my mentor. We broke into groups so it was impossible to follow everyone and their mentor, and I did not take notes, so can only tell you about a couple of interpretations I witnessed with the group.

I was able to interpret Frederic Remington's "A Dash For The Timber" and "Fall Of The Cowboy."  I do not know if it was because there was only the three of us or because we sat instead of standing, but I was very relaxed and able to deliver my take on both of these paintings. Subie, Pat and I also had a lively discussion about them.

 I suggested we look at A Dash For The Timber as a movie picture with Lucas sound. Indeed this painting lends itself to just that very easily, with the depth and sense of movement Frederic has painted. The question then is what sounds would possibly be heard.

Frederic was a much in demand illustrator for two of the magazines of the time and for books including one for Teddy Roosevelt.

He was also a writer and illustrated his own books. One is "Pony Tracks" which you can find on Kindle, sadly sans the illustrations. Speaking of illustrations the painting on the left "Fall Of The Cowboy" was one of several illustrations Frederic did for Owen Wister's article, "Evolution of the Cow-Puncher." Owen wrote "The Virginian" and is considered the father of western fiction. Charles Russell and Frederic Remington paintings of the wild west left such an impression that the western movies that followed were a natural extension.

One of the paintings Pat interpreted "The Swimming Hole" by Thomas Eakins. She touched upon the painting's rich history with Ft Worth and how it ended up in the ACMAA. The citizens of Ft Worth helped in making sure it stayed here when there was a chance it would be sold elsewhere. I wrote about some of the histories of this painting and Thomas Eakins two blogs ago. However; Pat added to my knowledge the fact that Eakins studied the human anatomy to the point of watching surgeries.

Self Portrait - 1919

And now, for something new. Pat gave us an interpretation of this Stuart Davis "Self Portrait".  There will be a bit more on Davis in this blog. Davis painted this self-portrait in 1919. Some say it was influenced by his recent bout with influenza. Others by his viewing a Vincent van Gogh self-portrait. The bright colors do remind one of van Gogh. At any rate, Pat gave a great interpretation of it.

She was going to give an interpretation of my all time favorite by Charles Demuth but we were called back together as a group. Will have to wait until another time to hear it.

Stuart Davis - 1892-1964

You can read more about the lively life of Stuart Davis on Wikipedia here Stuart Davis Painter

After we were called back together as a group, there were interpretations done by a few of the docent interns. I am so sorry that I was not taking notes but I do remember three of them for sure. If you gave one and I missed writing about you please forgive me.

Since we are discussing Stuart Davis I will continue with him. Ross gave us "Blips and If's" and "Swing Landscape". Ross actually sat us in the between the two paintings and compared them. Not an easy feat.

Blips and Ifs - 1963-1964

This painting "Blips and Ifs" was completed shortly before Davis's death. There are words on it but exactly what do they mean? Davis even put his signature at the top as if it was one of the words. I think the symbol on the left side looks like it fell off the Maryland state flag.

Swing Landscape - 1938

Ross also discussed "Swing Landscape". This painting is on loan from Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University. Ross hit the nail on the head with his analysis of this painting in that Davis's love of jazz deeply influenced his paintings. The Eskenazi Museum has a great write-up of it found here
Davis, Swing Landscape.

Marsden Hartley - 1877-1943

The last two interpretations I remember were by Morganna and Katherine about Marsden Hartley and Will Barnet. You can find a very good bio of Hartley here Marsden Hartley Bio by the Phillips Collection. As well as the ACMAA announcement of acquiring American Indian Symbols here Hartley, American Indian Symbols.

American Indian Symbols - 1914

Morganna gave us a stellar interpretation of this painting. Mentioning the repetition of patterns. I found it interesting that this was one of the paintings in Hartley's "Amerika" series and was tailored for a German audience.

Self-Portrait - 1952-1953

Katherine discussed Will Barnet's "Self-Portrait" with us. I say discussed because she asked if we could find a human in the portrait and that led to a very large discussion. This is a quote from Wikipedia that helps explain the sawtooth or arrowhead design in this painting.


"He was a key figure in the 1940s New York movement called Indian Space Painting, artists who based their abstract and semi-abstract work on Native American art; a striking movement which had a handful of practitioners."


There is a great Obituary by the NY Times on Will Barnet found here Barnet Obit. He lived to be 101 and painted for over 80 years. Wow!!


I leave you today with this question. If you were asked to create a self-portrait what would it look like?

Until next week,

Caroline