Art and Sleep

Exhibition ‘America, Painting a nation’

Introduction

The following is a series of ten paintings from the exhibition ‘America, Painting a nation’. They have been put on this website for one month only and are a compliment to a monthly column in the Northern Star newspaper. The emphasis of the article which appeared on March 12, 2014, is that, in my view, the best of these paintings were predominantly of children and made me reflect on the children that we see at the Youthdale Child and Adolescent Sleep Centre.

Passing by
C1924
Ernest Martin Hennings

This painting of three horse riders evokes a richness of culture and colour. A depiction is of Taos Pueblo men riding through trees, and was a highly acclaimed painting at the time it was executed. It evokes the American Southwest.

Tanis
1915
Daniel Garber

This painting is discussed in the article in the Northern Star of March 12, 2014.

Three am
1909
John Sloan

The catalogue of the exhibition quotes the artist as having ‘surmised’ that the seated woman was ‘engaged in some occupation that brought her home about this hour of the morning’. One cannot help but comment that 3.00am is the circadian nadir in terms of alertness. The woman at the stove perhaps reflects this.

Mother about to wash her sleepy child
1880
Mary Cassatt

For psychiatrists and psychologists in particular, this painting will make one think of attachment theory and the importance of early mother-childhood bonds. The bidirectional gentle affection emanating from both is almost palpable. The vertical squiggles on the wallpaper are not to be confused with the lines on a sleep recording, but are reminiscent of work by Matisse.

The herd boy
C1905
Frederic Remington

This painting is described in detail in the article in the Northern Star of March 12, 2014.

Picnic party in the woods
1872
John George Brown

This scene which could easily be thought of as a European depiction is described as reflecting ‘a spirit of optimism and renewal’. The game the children are playing is not self-evident to me, but is apparently one involving the process of courtship.

Southern courtship
1859
Eastman Johnson

In this painting the issue of courtship is totally obvious, even without the title. The painting has a sense of reality, and can be viewed as an important step in recognizing that lofty emotions have no racial barrier.

The young mechanic
1848
Allen Smith Jr.

This painting is described in detail in the article in the Northern Star of March 12, 2014.

The blacksmith
1900-07
Jefferson David Chalfant

As with the previous painting, this is a workshop scene. I have a particular interest in paintings of blacksmith’s and I welcome readers to send paintings or alert me to paintings of blacksmith’s that they may be aware of. You can send them to inna.voloh@ymail.com.

Blind man’s bluff
1814
John Lewis Krimmel

This group scene of children playing indoors has a Bruegel feel. The artist is of German extraction. The tools of everyday life, rather than of the working environment (of the previous painting), are shown to good effect.