~ Digital Film Producer, Visual Storyteller at Dancing Light Pictures ~ Art = Human Understanding
What does it mean to be human today? That is the primary question on my mind at present. Which draws me particularly to art and ideas that feed my sense of connection to the richly human aspect of ourselves. All good art is a reminder that we are human of course (as long as it originates from human thinking, effort, will, and volition, and not generated by robots). Some art however, with its very subject and treatment, distinctly emphasises our human aspect. Such as this rich and evocative painting by Thomas Hart Benton that I came across a couple of days back on the Saint Louis Art Museum website. Not only it beautifully, visually highlights the human aspect but also the connection between humans and earth/nature. For our drift away from our human selves often coincides and co-relates with our drift from nature. Cradling Wheat, 1938 Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) Tempera and oil on board Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri, USA A group of lean, muscular field hands harvest grain on a sunny hillside. The rise and bend of their activity through the undulating contours of the land emphasizes the intimate relationship between man and nature. The artist, Missourian Thomas Hart Benton, was known for elevating the life of the working class, making their everyday labors appear heroic. Benton sought to capture images of grassroots America, which he felt was rapidly disappearing due to industrialization. Certainly Cradling Wheat is nostalgic: the cradle scythe used by the farmer on the left to cut the grain would have been old-fashioned by the 1930s. In his description of Cradling Wheat Benton wrote, “Scene in the hill country of East Tennessee in 1928…doubt whether this kind of harvesting can be found anymore—anywhere.” https://lnkd.in/g33c5Ajk #art #paintings #artists #visualart #visualstorytelling #human #humanconnection #humanspirit #dehumanisation #humanexperience #earth #nature
