Looking Good at the Winter Show

Over the past few days I’ve seen hundreds of works of art, most American, and while I’m sniffing for themes befitting America’s 250th, my tastes are catholic. I might as well write now that my favorite object at the Americana auctions and the Winter Show, the work I’ve thought about like a dog thinks of food, is unconnected to revolution, war, a more perfect union, life, liberty, justice, or equality. It’s a John La Farge watercolor at the Winter Show, Entrance to the River of Tautira, Man in Canoe, Pink Cloud, from 1891, a little over 9 by 12 inches. Thomas Colville is offering it for $135,000.

I love La Farge (1835–1910) for his stained glass, but he was a superb painter, draftsman, and designer, and also a visionary. He also was among the first gringo artists to visit the South Seas — he was there when Gauguin was there — and to make art with South Seas landscapes, seascapes, and native life as subjects. His color sense is perfection. Layers of watercolor, some opaque, some transparent, create a world that’s sensual — we can feel the warmth and smell the salt air and feel the sea breeze and water — but mythic and remote. La Farge did lots of church stained glass and murals. This little thing isn’t religious, but spirits arise from it and caress us.

About the Author

Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

Over the past few days I’ve seen hundreds of works of art, most American, and while I’m sniffing for themes befitting America’s 250th, my tastes are catholic. I might as well write now that my favorite object at the Americana auctions and the Winter Show, the work I’ve thought about like a dog thinks of food, is unconnected to revolution, war, a more perfect union, life, liberty, justice, or equality. It’s a John La Farge watercolor at the Winter Show, Entrance to the River of Tautira, Man in Canoe, Pink Cloud, from 1891, a little over 9 by 12 inches. Thomas Colville is offering it for $135,000.

I love La Farge (1835–1910) for his stained glass, but he was a superb painter, draftsman, and designer, and also a visionary. He also was among the first gringo artists to visit the South Seas — he was there when Gauguin was there — and to make art with South Seas landscapes, seascapes, and native life as subjects. His color sense is perfection. Layers of watercolor, some opaque, some transparent, create a world that’s sensual — we can feel the warmth and smell the salt air and feel the sea breeze and water — but mythic and remote. La Farge did lots of church stained glass and murals. This little thing isn’t religious, but spirits arise from it and caress us.