"Art in Balance: Matisse & His Illustrated Works" at the Naples Art Institute

Who doesn't love the art of Henri Matisse? His work conveys so much emotion, whether it's a colorful image like "The Dance" or  "simple" line drawings like his work for "The Portuguese Letters." And then there's the story of how he overcame adversity, shifting his primary artistic practice from paintings on canvas to cut-outs when his surgery for abdominal cancer rendered him wheelchair bound. A recent exhibit at the Naples Art Institute showcased Matisse's work in the field of printmaking. It was terrific. 

"The Dance" (1938) (Lithograph in colors)

Over the course of his lifetime, Matisse created more than 800 prints using techniques that included lithographs, linocuts, woodcuts, etchings and aquatints. The details of the various processes are lost to me. Suffice it to say that they are much more complicated than you might think and that he was a master of them all. Matisse also collaborated with a number of publishers on book illustration projects. Perhaps the most notable was his "Jazz Portfolio" created for Greek publisher Teriade. It is fabulous. But first, let's talk about "The Dance." 

Anyone who's been to the Museum of Modern Art in New York has seen Matisse's "Dance I." Technically, it was a study for his painting "Dance" that lives at The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. But there's a third version of "The Dance" that's strikingly different. 

"Monsieur Loyal", "Icarus"and
"The Sword Swaller" from "Jazz" (1947)

Almost 30 years after Matisse created "Dance I," he made a lithograph of the iconic image specifically for publication. This version -- with the blood red bodies and black background -- is quite dramatic and has a somewhat demonic feel to me. All the better to grab the attention of readers sitting comfortably in their chairs at home.  

The first step was to make a gouache cut-out of the image. Ten printing stages later, the lines and colors had been layered onto the page, and the lithograph was final. It was then was printed as a double page image in Verve Magazine. Click here to see the work from the magazine, complete with a crease down the middle. The fold feels kind of blashphemous to me, but life is full of trade-offs. For more on the better-known versions of "The Dance," click here.  

The exhibit included the entire portfolio of 20 lithographs that comprise Matisse's "Jazz" series. He was 74 years old when he began the project. On their face, the images are inspired by the circus and and mythology and fairy tales. Matisse himself wrote the accompanying text. 

Matisse created these works in the aftermath of WWII, and you can see the impact of the war on this series if you know how to look at them. Luckily, I came upon this short video in which an expert from the Met discusses the series. Take, for instance, the iconic image entitled "Icarus." Most people associate this work with the mythological tale of the boy who flew so close to the sun that his homemade beeswax wings melted and he fell to his death. The tale is considered a warning not to exhibit hubris. But coming on the heels of WWII, the splashes of yellow might be viewed as exploding shells and the red circle interpreted as a shot through the figure's heart. I love artworks with multiple levels of meaning. For more on "Jazz" (and to see the entire series), click here. 

"Blue Nude XI" (1952) 

I'll leave you with a work from Matisse's "Blue Nude" series. Once again, there's a great story behind these works. The series was inspired by his painting of the same name. The painting, in turn, was inspired by a sculpture the artist had been creating that shattered during the carving process. The original "Blue Nude" was not exactly well received. In fact, it was burned in effigy when it was exhibited at the Armory Show of 1913. Art lovers apparently considered the painting vulgar and were not into Matisse's choice of somewhat unconventional colors. Wow. 

Happily, Matisse continued with the subject matter, building on the concept of a pieced-together figure, in spite of the uproar. Matisse's "Blue Nude II" is perhaps the best known of the series, but I prefer this version. It's reminiscent of a yoga pose I'm working to perfect. There's nothing like a good back crack. To see the two works side by side in a publication by Verve, click here. 

Spending a concentrated amount of time with Matisse's prints was a treat. While it's a bit of a hike to the Naples Art Institute, it was well worth the journey. And if you want more on the artist and his cut-outs, click here to watch a segment from the CBS Sunday Morning Show. Happy viewing!

Hearing from Sam Goodwin and Hostage US

Urbanite Theatre is now home to the best theater I've seen all season -- "No One is Forgotten" by Winter Miller. The play drops the audience into a cell in an unknown location where two women are being held hostage. It's powerful and timely and incredibly intense. I can't imagine the toll it must take on these actors to perform their roles five times a week. I'm certain, however, that their experience pales in comparison to the real life experience of Sam Goodwin, an American held hostage in Syria for nine weeks in 2019. I had the chance to hear from Sam and Liz Cathart, Executive Director of Hostage US, at a recent event at Urbanite. It was both sobering and enlightening. 

Hostage US was established in the wake of the 2014-2015 hostage crisis in Syria in which 14 captives, including three Americans, were kidnapped by ISIS and ultimately killed. You've probably heard the phrase "we don't negotiate with terrorists," and that was what the families of those hostages were repeatedly told by government officials. The fact that there was no organized support system for the families of hostages made the situation even worse. How terrifying and frustrating and, ultimately, heartbreaking it must have been for the families to go through this experience essentially on their own. When the Obama administration undertook a review of how the crisis had been handled, the question of whether there was a way to provide assistance to the families was on the agenda. It was out of this process that Hostage US was formed. 

Sam Goodwin and Liz Cathart

The mission of Hostage US is to offer confidential and personalized support both to families of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad and to former captives rebuilding their lives. Goodwin and his family are among the people Hostage US has helped. 

Goodwin worked abroad from 2010-2020 and undertook a quest to visit every country in the world. In the spring of 2019 Goodwin arrived in Qamishili, Syria with the help of a fixer who worked with him on how to best enter the country. Goodwin always touched base with his parents when he arrived in a new country. And so he made a FaceTime call to his mother so he could show her his latest locale. They were mid-conversation when the line went dead. He had been taken by government officials who accused him of being a spy for the United States. 

Sam was held in solitary confinement in a windowless cement for the first 27 days of his captivity. When speaking about how he passed his time in solitary, I was struck by how right Miller, a former journalist, got these details in her play. He told himself stories and played word games and relived both his own and professional hockey games. He exercised. He prayed. He fantasized about the ways his release would occur. He worried about his family and how they were coping. In darker moments, he wondered whether anyone was thinking about him and working to get him out. 

Sam's family was, of course, thinking about him constantly. When the call dropped and they didn't hear from him by the next day, they knew something was seriously wrong. The Goodwins contacted the FBI Field Office. To their credit, the FBI took the family's concern seriously. Still, they were not provided any assistance or support by the government. Instead, they were instructed not to tell anyone Sam was missing for fear it would hamper efforts to obtain his release. It was at this point that the Goodwins found Hostage US. 

Every case in which Hostage US gets involved is different. Yes, the organization facilitates connecting the families of hostages with appropriate government officials. Its primary role, however, is to provide emotional and practical support. It was no surprise to learn that Hostage US has developed a network of therapists to work with both the families and former captives. (Cathart noted that state licensing requirements can be an obstacle to facilitating this crucial need.) But I'd never considered the more practical issues that also have to be addressed. 

Rent/mortgage/insurance payments still have to be made. Other financial obligations also have to be handled, such as tax filings and child support payments. Of course these aspects of day-to-day life pale in comparison to efforts to obtain the hostage's release, but failing to deal with them on a timely basis results in problems down the road. Hostage US also has a network of doctors who can assist with a former hostage's medical issues -- new or old -- that have gone unattended while in captivity. Cathart noted that dental issues are a universal concern for released hostages. But back to Sam's experiences...

After almost four weeks in solitary, Sam was moved to Adra Prison where he was housed with the general population. All of the other prisoners were Syrian, and Sam's belief in the goodness of (most) people was borne out during this time. In the NPR interview linked below, Sam shared that his contacts had gone beyond their useful life. He was effectively blind, making his circumstances all the more frightening. His fellow prisoners banded together their financial and other resources and obtained a pair of glasses for him. Truly amazing. Ultimately, it was through one of his cellmates and a series of events straight out of a movie that Sam was able to get word to his family about where he was being held. Obviously, this information was crucial for the U.S. government to secure his release. Of course there's much, much more to Sam's story and the ways in which Hostage US provided -- and continues to provide -- vital services to Sam and his family. But I'll leave you here with some links to learn more at your leisure. 

Thanks to Urbanite for shining a light on an issue that is unfortunately quite timely. For a thumbnail sketch of Sam's story, you can listen to his interview with NPR by clicking here. His book "Saving Sam" gives a more detailed version of his experience and is told from both his and his family's perspective. For information on Hostage US, click here. Last, but not least, "No One is Forgotten" runs through April 29th at Urbanite Theatre. For tickets, click here. 

 

"George Harrison: A Gardener's Life" at Selby Gardens

"All Things Must Pass" album cover

In a world in which people are fans of either the Stones or the Beatles, I fall firmly into the Stones' camp. So I wasn't particularly excited about seeing this year's headline exhibit at Selby Gardens - "George Harrison: A Gardener's Life." Surprisingly, the folks at Selby know much more about selecting exhibition themes than I do. It's a thoroughly enjoyable choice for showcasing the Gardens.   

The exhibit is being promoted with this photo of Harrison sitting amidst some garden gnomes. He's in a big field wearing boots appropriate for mucking around in the mud. Lovers of Harrison's solo music might recall the image as the cover for his "All Things Must Pass" album from 1970. What's the story? I'll get there, but a little patience is required.

Guess the song that accompanies this vignette

The Beatles broke up when Harrison was just 27 years old, leaving him with a lot of time on his hands and a lot of money in his pocket. Harrison and first wife Pattie Boyd (who later left him for Eric Clapton) purchased Friar Park, a 32 acre property located outside of London. The historic estate needed a lot of TLC, and by all accounts Harrison and both Pattie and second wife Olivia were up for the task.  

Friar Park was created in the late 19th century by English lawyer, botanist and eccentric Frank Crisp. (For the record, this is how Crisp is described online rather than my characterization.) Before beginning his development of the property, Crisp commissioned artist Alan Tabor to create a map of the features the estate would include. Taking his cue from Crisp's book on medieval gardens (and Crisp's somewhat quirky sense of humor), Tabor's map titled everything "Ye" and included areas like Ye Dial Gardens (a topiary garden), Ye Upper Lodge (High but not Haughty) and Ye Japanese Garden (complete with images of geishas). To see a copy of this wonderful artifact, click here. So far as I can tell, everything included in this plan was created when the estate was built out. 

Selby's replica of the Friar Park replica of the Matterhorn 

While the design included a number of somewhat outrageous features, perhaps none is more striking than the four acre Alpine garden with a 20' replica of the Matterhorn. (The mountain had recently been climbed for the first time, so some homage was obviously due.) Selby's even smaller version faithfully includes the fake mountain goat that Crisp positioned atop the mountain. 

Tucked amidst the rocks of the Alpine Garden are numerous caves that, sadly, are not in Selby's recreation. Included among them was the gnome cave from which the creatures presumably sprang to populate Friar Park. This cave also included a special mirror that made the viewer look like a gnome herself. That could be a shock to the system if you weren't prepared. For more on Crisp's Matterhorn and rock garden, click here. 

Friar Park exchanged hands a couple of times before the Harrisons' purchase. In 1953, the bulk of the estate was donated to the Salesian Nuns of Don Bosco. During their tenure, the nuns operated a convent school on the estate and ran a parochial school in town. And this is where the gnomes come in. The nuns didn't share Crisp's fascination with gnomes and pitched the kitsch -- along with old beds and other housewares that had outlived their usefulness -- into the pond. When Harrison dredged the pond and found the gnomes, they were returned to their rightful places across Friar Park. 

There's much more to explore and enjoy in the exhibit, but I don't want to share here all of the discoveries to be made. "George Harrison: A Gardener's Life" runs through June 29th. Get there if you can. When your feet get a bit tired, you can take advantage of the opportunities to rest and enjoy the view at spots like "Ye pleasant prospect seate." If a visit to Selby Gardens isn't in your future, you might enjoy this video showcasing the highlights of the exhibit. And if your interest in Friar Park and its various owners has been piqued, you can find out more information by clicking here and here. And with that, this post has come to an end. I hope ye have yeself a lovely day. 

 

Gale Fulton Ross: Divine Love at Art Center Sarasota

Gale Fulton Ross

Gale Fulton Ross' "Divine Love" exhibit at Art Center Sarasota almost didn't come to fruition. The original intent of the California-based artist had been to have large-scale silkscreens of her collages created at a studio here in Sarasota. Then the hurricanes came, and the studio was destroyed. "Okay," she thought. "I'll have them done in California and shipped. It's less convenient, but it'll work." Then the wildfires descended upon Los Angeles, and the studio there burned. Still, Fulton Ross didn't give up. She ended up having smaller mock ups of the works digitally reproduced here, took over a studio at the Art Center, and painted over the reproductions to create the unique works. Where there's a will there's a way. 

Fulton Ross has always had artistic instincts. As a child, she drew the faces of the people she saw on the pages of Jet and other magazines in her home. Her father set her course when he introduced her to friends as his "baby artist." She liked the sound of that title, but what did it actually mean? 

Grandmother Madonna (2025)

She visited a museum to see what was what. Of course she saw many beautiful and inspiring works. But the discrepancy between the images she was creating and what she saw on the museum walls was striking. Where were the paintings of people who looked like her? Fulton Ross decided then and there that it was her responsibility to create work that could fill that space. She became what she calls "a freedom fighter at the easel." Her commitment has borne results. Fulton Ross' resume features participation in group shows in multiple museums, a solo show at the Ringling Museum, and work in numerous galleries and collections.  

Fulton Ross' began work on her "Divine Love" series in 2019 after her mother passed away. The sympathy cards she received with their messages about her mother having been "ideal" made her think. Yes, her mom was special and wonderful, but ideal? To Fulton Ross, the Virgin Mary was an ideal mother, but she's kind of in a class all her own. Instead, Fulton Ross thinks of her mother and the other women in her life more as icons. In this series, she celebrates the strength and compassion and beauty of those women not only by memorializing them but by situating them in stained glass windows. Perhaps they are saints of a sort. 

"Woeful Madonna" (2025)

While the series includes a painting of the artist herself as a teenage mother, her "Woeful Madonna" struck a deeper chord with me. Here we have a young woman overwhelmed by the amount of energy it takes to raise a child. Then there are the questions she asks herself when she lies awake at night. What would my life have been like if I hadn't gotten pregnant? Can I do this? Fulton Ross would be the first to say that it takes a village, and she was fortunate to have women in her life who not only raised her, but helped her raise her son. Those women included her grandmother, who is honored in the painting above. 

Fulton Ross' exhibits typically include some sculpture, and "Divine Love" is no exception. She created the works just a couple of weeks before the show opened from found objects. The sculptures are more recognizable representations of the Virgin Mary and her child. They are lovely. Fulton Ross shared that the wire halos represent the energy of both the individuals and the universe. Each of the sculptures is dedicated to Elizabeth Catlett and Samella Lewis. 

Catlett is an artist whose work I've seen, but I didn't know her story. I wasn't aware, for instance, that she had been exiled from the United States during the McCarthy era as "an undesirable alien." All one had to do was take a look at her work and see that she was trouble. Wow. Catlett's story is fascinating, but somewhat beyond the scope of this post. To learn more about her art and activism, click here and here.

Samella Lewis was a name new to me, and she is definitely a woman worthy of homage. Lewis is known as the Godmother of African American Art. Her mentor just happened to be Elizabeth Catlett. While Lewis was an artist in her own right, her contributions extend well beyond the canvas. She founded the Museum of African American Art in Los Angeles in 1976. That same year, she established the International Review of African American Art (colloquially known as the Black Art Journal). She also received a Fulbright scholarship to study Chinese language and art history in Taiwan, was the first African American woman to receive a doctorate in fine art and art history, became a significant collector of African American art and co-founded the first African American publishing house. What a powerhouse. What a shame that this is the first time I've learned about her contributions to the art world and beyond. It seems almost an aside, but her art is terrific as well. For more on Lewis, click here and here. 

Thanks to Fulton Ross not only for an interesting and thought-provoking exhibit but for highlighting the contributions of these women in whose footsteps she travels. Thanks as well to Art Center Sarasota for providing a venue for Fulton Ross to share her art and her story. "Divine Love" is on display through April 19. For more on Fulton Ross, click here. 

Shelby Van Pelt talks "Remarkably Bright Creatures"

With author Shelby Van Pelt 

Author Shelby Van Pelt is a firm believer in the adage that timing is everything. Her novel "Remarkably Bright Creatures" went out to prospective publishers at the very moment when everyone in the world was enamored with the documentary "My Octopus Teacher." In the movie, a diver develops a relationship with a wild octopus. In Van Pelt's novel, a cleaning woman at an aquarium develops a relationship with an octopus that periodically escapes from its tank. Cue the bidding war. But I've gotten a bit ahead of myself. 

Since 2003, Sarasota County Libraries have participated in the One Book/One Community initiative. The idea is simple (although I suspect the implementation is anything but). A book is selected by the library staff and a series of related events are organized in which community members of all ages can participate. This year's book was "Remarkably Bright Creatures." Each year's program is capped off with a talk by the author, and I found myself front and center to hear Van Pelt's story.  

Van Pelt didn't grow up wanting to be an author. She studied economics and philosophy in college. (Her ornery octopus is named Marcellus after Marcus Aurelius.) She'd always been interested in writing, though, and eventually took the plunge and registered for a class at Emory's continuing education program. The first assignment was to write a scene from an unusual point of view. Hmm. 

She searched for an idea, primarily by listening in on other customers' conversations in Starbucks and making up their backstories. Then she came upon the YouTube world of Naughty Octopi. She saw a video about an octopus trying to escape from its tank. With that, Marcellus was born. When she turned in her assignment, her teacher told to keep going. And so she did.

Van Pelt soon realized, though, that a single character does not a book make. She had written a number of scenes featuring Marcellus, but her story had no plot. Van Pelt began hanging out at the Georgia Aquarium in search of an idea. Much of her time was spent observing the octopus. But she also watched the fish in the other tanks. She noticed that they circled their environments over and over again. It made her think about how humans, like these fish, have routines. In particular, it made her think about her grandmother, whom Shelby lived next door to when she was growing up. 

Van Pelt's grandmother was a cleaning fanatic with a strict weekly schedule. Windows and floors would be washed and cabinets cleaned out whether they needed it or not. It wasn't that she was OCD. She just needed something to do, and cleaning filled her time. Eventually these musings led to the birth of Tova, the aquarium's cleaning woman who is the protagonist of the story. 

Emilie with her new friend

Still, the years passed without Van Pelt finishing her book. Instead, she found herself rewriting -- and rewriting again -- what she had already put on the page instead of making forward progress. She finally finished the first draft thanks to a pact with a friend from her long ago writing class who was similarly stuck. It's always good to have a buddy. 

When "Remarkably Bright Creatures" came out, it was given a huge boost by its selection as a book of the month for Read with Jenna. (Click here to see what Jenna had to say about why she choose the novel.) The selection was made when Van Pelt was still in the editing process. When she got the news that Jenna and her people were interested but needed the completed book right away to make their decision, she pulled an all nighter to finish her edits up. It was worth the lost sleep. It took a few months, but Van Pelt and her team were eventually told that the novel had indeed been chosen. They were cautioned, though, that if word leaked, it wouldn't happen. What a secret to have to sit on for months! 

Shelby Van Pelt 

"Remarkably Bright Creatures" became an instant NYT bestseller once it hit bookstores. This means that a minimum of 5,000 copies were sold in the week following its publication. Since the book came out in 2022, it has been on the NYT Bestseller List for more than a year's worth of weeks. More than a million copies of the book have found their way into readers' hands, and that's only taking into account the people who have purchased the book rather than queuing up for it at their public library. The fact that an article about the book's staying power appeared on the front page of the New York Times in December 2023 didn't hurt. Sort of an aside, but Van Pelt shared a funny story about she and her team looking for the piece on the day the article was scheduled to run. They checked the book section and the arts section and were becoming the tiniest bit concerned when someone found the article below the fold on page 1. Cue the excitement. You probably won't be surprised at this point to learn that a movie is in the works. Sally Field will play the role of Tova. 

Thanks to the Sarasota Library System and the Library Foundation for another terrific author event. I'm already looking forward to next year's One Book/One Community celebration. In the meantime, happy reading. 

 

Human Form: a Body of Work from the Basch Glass Collection

"Reverence" by Martin Blank

The 16th Annual Basch Glass Exhibit is now on view at Ringling College and, as always, it is spectacular. I had the pleasure of attending a tour of the exhibit with Barbara Basch during which she spoke about every piece on display. Hearing about both the artwork and the artists truly brought the works to life.  

For me, Martin Blank's "Reverence" most epitomizes the theme of this year's show. I mean, hello! The chiseled physique of Blank's figure is beyond gorgeous. It's no surprise that the work is on display in the window of the gallery, along with Blank's "Demeter's Song." The latter sculpture is an homage to the Olympian goddess of the harvest. Both works are examples of hot sculpted glass. Creation of this type of piece involves "gathering" molten glass from a furnace with a steel rod and then sculpting its form without using molds or blowing techniques. Wow.

Blank was on hand to open this year's exhibit and gave the keynote address. His passion for art and life was on full display. He's a guy I can easily imagine sitting down and chatting with over dinner. In addition to works that can be displayed in a (very spacious) home, Blank has created large scale public art works. As a fan of public art, I'd love to see one of those works, perhaps his 210 foot "Fluent Steps." If you happen to be in the Tacoma, Washington area, "Fluent Steps" is on permanent display at the Museum of Glass. For more on Blank and his art, click here. 

"Ship of Fools" by Stanislaw Borowski (2005)

Stanislaw Borowski's "Ship of Fools" is a work that could be studied for days. The title comes from a book written in 1494 by Sebastian Brant about people moving from their home countries to the "Land of Fools." The satirical novel was illustrated with woodcuts thought to be the work of Albrecht Durer. While the Land of Fools is a fictional place, you might recall that Columbus set sail for America not long before before Brant penned his work. Perhaps the timing isn't coincidental. For more on the book, click here. But back to the art.   

"Ship of Fools" is a type of sculpture known as hot worked glass. This means Borowski "worked" the glass into shape using a 3D mold. You might notice that this sculpture is not as luminous as Blank's "Reverence." That's because Borowski acid-washed portions of the work to dull the patina. Each panel was then painted and/or etched with figures heading off to their new homes. If you look carefully, you'll see that the five human figures sitting abreast on the ship are morphing into birds. Basch explained that this transformation represents the release of the human spirit as the individuals embark on their new lives. It's a very interesting work. For more on the artist, click here. If you scroll down in the link, you'll find better images of work from Borowski's "Ship of Fools" series. 

"Tango series" by Leah Wingield (2003)

Leah Wingfield's "2 A.M." is from her "Tango" series, but I'm betting you could have figured that out on your own. Trust me when I say that the way in which the woman is holding her leg is not a move for beginners. Our tour group took a short tango lesson in Buenos Aires last fall, and it was all most of us could do to walk around the room to the count of three. A video revealed that we looked more like zombies recently risen from the dead than dancers. But I digress.

Winfield has said, "Tango is about attraction...tension...  energy... surrender. Tango expresses the rhythm of a love affair." You can see each of those feelings in this work. I love the way the partners lean into each other to create balance. You can sense the trust between them. To see other other works in this series that are more sensual, click here. I like them. 

Wingfield's work is an example of lost wax cast glass. The first step is to create a wax model of the desired form. Next, a mold is made around the form. Both delicacy and a sure hand are required for the next step as the wax has to be removed in order to create the cavity into which molten glass will be poured. I appreciate that Basch shared the different techniques with the group as it helped me conceptualize -- to a small degree -- how they were created. 

These are just three of the 38 works on display that showcase the creativity and skill of 20 very different glass artists. The exhibit runs through March 28 and is definitely worth a visit. For more information, click here. 

Greg Rumph Talks Illustration

Greg Rumph with his portrait of "Peaches" 

As Assistant Vice Principal at Booker High, Greg Rumph oversees the school's visual and performing arts (VPA) program. The school prepares students focused on all forms of art -- from dance to drama to visual art -- to leave home and go out into the world. In addition to the standard high school curriculum, students spend three hours each day working in their field with top notch professionals guiding their practices. It's no wonder students with creative goals happily commute significant distances to attend the school. But the topic at hand at a recent Arts Advocates' luncheon wasn't Booker's unique program but Rumph's own artistic practice as an illustrator. 

"Miles Davis"

In case you're wondering what differentiates an illustrator from other types of visual artists, it's the intention of the artist to create images that convey a message rather than being "merely" for personal expression. Sometimes Rumph leans into caricature in his works. He often exaggerates the hands of the people he portrays as a means of depicting stress and intensity. Even a quick look at Miles Davis' muscular -- but somewhat gnarled -- hands in this illustration yields information to the viewer about the life Davis led. And that's what Rumph is trying to achieve in his art -- capturing individuals at their core instead of just superficially. 

"Sarah Vaughan"

I was particularly interested in learning about the disparate artists who have inspired Rumph. You might be surprised, as I initially was, to learn that Gustav Klimt is one of his major influences. (Click here to see "The Kiss," one of Klimt's most famous paintings.) But when you look at Rumph's paintings with this influence in mind, you can see the connections. Despite their different styles, both artists lean into patterns, shapes and verticality in their images. Very cool. 

The impact of Egon Schiele's work on Rumph's style made more immediate sense to me. Schiele was best known as an Expressionist. It's a style of art whose followers were known for leaning into their feelings about the subject of their work rather than creating an objective image. Schiele would frequently use angular lines to express exaggerated emotions. If you're thinking, "That sounds similar to a caricature," you'd be right. You'd never look at a Schiele -- or a Rumph -- portrait and mistake the work for a photograph even if the subject is identifiable. And here's a fun fact about Rumph's artistic influences: Klimt served as a mentor to Schiele. 

"Sweet Thing" 

Rumph went on to share the specific inspiration for his paintings of "Peaches" and "Sweet Thing." The works are from a series depicting the characters in Nina Simone's "Four Women." In the song, "Peaches" is a woman born into slavery who was forced to become tough. She is not someone you would want to mess with. When Rumph heard these lyrics, he immediately related the character to Harriet Tubman and her work as a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad.  If you look carefully, you can see Tubman's face in the painting shown above. (For a better image of "Peaches," click here.) 

"Sweet Thing" in Simone's song is a woman who walks the streets for a living. In Rumph's portrayal, she welcomes her "patrons" with open arms. I get the feeling, though, that they walk into that embrace at their peril. To read the song's lyrics, click here. I hope I get the opportunity to see Rumph's series in its entirety. 

A big thanks to Rumph for sharing his time and his art. For a great piece on WEDU PBS in which Rumph talks about his work, click here. And to see more of his work, click here.