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Kingfisher
a Salute to Morris Graves
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In his early work, Morris Graves worked in oils. He also drew exquisitely. If he had done nothing else, nothing more, his reputation would have been assured. Ah, but he did more. Much more.
Greg Kucera, the gallery owner, points out the importance of these early paintings and drawings, and relates them to the internalizing of emotions associated with Graves's observations of animals and birds: "We
present a diverse collection of animal images by Morris Graves, an
artist who created his reputation on his ability to observe animals with
such clarity that he could then render them with physical accuracy while
elucidating their internal character. From stubborn goats to
passive cows, from ants instinctively waging war to a phoenix making its
first tentative flutterings, from a hibernating mouse to a deer with
ears alert, Graves offers us not a zoological record but a compendium of
animalistic behaviors—and not without human identification. "As
with most of Graves’ early works from the 1930s through his mature
works of the 1960s there is little in these drawings and paintings to
indicate a sense of place or habitat. These various solitary
birds, animals and float in a gravity-free atmospheric world conceived
of brown paper, rice tissue, washes of semi-transparent watercolor and
fluid strokes of semi-opaque gouache paint. "Some
of the most pathetic creatures seen here are Graves’ imaginary
gargoyles, phoenixes and hybridized beastly figures. When Graves
has painted a bird with antlers or an animal wearing a mask he has
bestowed upon it a profound personal burden which makes survival
difficult if not impossible. There is in these works a fiercely
defiant determination in the face of a tragic situation which can
captivate us as adults in much the same way that unfortunate characters
in fairy tales did when we were children. Our cultural tendency to
identify with the underdog is an undeniable part of our empathetic
attraction to Graves’ gentle animals, wounded birds, modest flowers
and humble vessels. It is precisely because Graves paints
the ignoble fritilleria, the mice, ants and geese from his own woodland
gardens that makes these works so attractive. They are painted
with a marvelous combination of skill, sensitivity, sincerity and
gravity."
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