The Southern Art Collection: Landscape
Photo by Haley Bordelon
The Meadows Museum of Art in Shreveport, Louisiana, takes residence in the far corner of Centenary’s campus looming over the admissions building. Amongst its constantly rotating collection of art is one owned by two individuals native to the state. Eric Hess and Frank Thaxton own the exhibit conveniently named “The Southern Art Collection,” which consists of works of art accumulated over the years from Southern artists. The diversity of art within the exhibit is almost overwhelming as it includes photographs, sculptures (ceramic, glass, wood, brass, clay), carvings, oil paintings, and fabric. However, one painting, in particular, caught my eye; it’s simple appearance matched its name—Landscape.
As stated earlier, this artwork took the form of a painting, specifically, oil on wood, which gave it a rustic and textured look exaggerated by the dim light of the museum. This painting consisted primarily of neutral colors, including different shades of tan, green, and a small amount of blue for the sky. Many of the other pieces of art were very colorful and abstract, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, walking through the second floor of Meadows can get a bit overwhelming when you don’t know what you are looking at. You can imagine my relief when I glanced across the room to find a point of familiarity that was this painting. As one gets closer to the slab of wood, it becomes clearer how blurry the painting is. You would think that a landscape would be painted in as much detail as possible, considering the permanence of the subject it was modeled after.
Photo by Haley Bordelon
This style seemed reminiscent of paintings by the impressionist Claude Monet. The next thing one might notice is the white plaque sitting on the wall next to the painting. Almost all the other plaques contained more than enough information about the painting, the artist who painted it, and sometimes the inspiration behind the artwork. However, this white plaque was much smaller than some of the others. This was because it contained only three short lines that read: Unknown / Landscape / Oil on Wood. Even the information plaque showed a lack of clarity.
From far away, this piece of art seemed like any ordinary painting, but the closer you get the more interesting the painting is. It looks like a very calm and serene grassland from a distance with a few trees in sight and mountains in the background. However, the closer I got, the more unsure I became of what I was seeing. I could not tell if the trees in the distance were just that or if they were tall rocks like those of the standing stones in Scotland. The blurriness of the painting made it seem like violent winds were ripping through the landscape below the mountains. Close up, nothing about this painting seemed calming or serene like it did when looking at it from a distance. However, because the author’s identity is unknown, the obscurity of the artwork must remain.
The artist who created Landscape left their audience with more questions than answers, but one thing that is clear is whoever the author was wanted to emphasize the beauty of our earth we too often take for granted. The fact that the artist of the painting is unknown forces the audience to think about the origin of the subject and possibly develop more appreciation for the art we live in.
