Colorado In the Summertime

Colorado In the Summertime

 

 

 

As I walked around the Fine Art Center, I looked at the paintings and noticed a very interesting painting. The main reason it caught my attention was how colorful it was. This painting definitely depicts the category of “things which in reality are buyable” (Berger pg. 83). The argument that Berger discusses is the purpose of representing “things” in paintings. The tangibility stood out to me in this piece. This painting definitely represents summer in Colorado, by showing certain objects you see in Colorado.

The way the artist presented this painting was with a cheerful attitude in which the visual expression could not have been found in any other visual art form (pg. 87). Just like Berger’s example of the man with all his paintings. Both of these have unique objects. Objects that can be bought and owned, but its uniqueness shows that a person, “cannot be surrounded by music or poems in the same way as he is surrounded by his pictures” (pg. 85). This painting of Stephen Morath definitely gives you a different connection with the objects, than say music, which is enjoyment through the ears.  Yet, a painting gives you a different stimulation because it is visually beautiful, much like a visual symphony. The artist is like an orchestral conductor. He directs his brush with the bright colors and the subject matter to create one beautiful piece. I hear Bob Marley’s Summertime.  A piece can really say much more than words can tell.

Something else that got me on this painting was the sense of touch. The colors were so vibrant that I felt that I could actually touch the fruits and feel the lettering of the license plate. Berger described it best that, “every square inch of the surface of this painting, whilst remaining purely visual, appeals to, importunes, the sense of touch” (pg. 90). The example Berger gives of the Ambassadors gave me this sense of touch. The objects in these paintings seem realistic enough that you could reach out and grab them. Berger describes this as, “the surface verisimilitude of oil painting tends to make the viewer assume that he is close to –within touching distance of- any object in the foreground” (pg. 97).

This painting had to be one of my favorites in the Fine Art Center. This painting shows what it’s like in the summertime here in Colorado, with the portrayal of the various fruits of the season and fullness of the antlers on the deer.  I was able to connect with the modernistic feel because of the license plate. The license plate just really reminds me of summertime because that is when you get to cruise around town with the windows down and music blaring. Hands down, definitely the best piece of artwork I have seen in a while.

 

 



Stephen Morath, Summer Still Life with Antlers, 1999, Acrylic on Canvas, 4'x4'