Per Reader Suggestion

I received a comment on my post, Thoughts on Change, that suggested I take a look at the new additions to the Modern Art wing, particularly those that hang near the staircase where my (yes, I take ownership of them since they are my favorite) beloved Rosenquists once lived.


The most prominent painting is Kehinde Wiley's "The Veiled Christ (study) 2008," which I definitely noticed as soon as it arrived. It portrays the stiff, clearly deceased subject laying on his back with his hand on his abdomen, a crown of thorns and metal stakes at his feet, against the backdrop of bright floral wallpaper with a black background, some of the same flowers coming to life in the foreground, dispersed about the body. Regardless of its size, the image itself is powerful and arresting.


On the facing wall next to Norman Rockwell and Grant Wood, hangs a Thomas Hart Benton: "Cotton Pickers, Georgia, 1928-29." In Benton's signature style, the squiggly characters float atop the wavelike landscape.


And just to the left, Andrew Wyeth's "A Crow Flew By, 1949-50" captured my undivided attention. The egg tempera on wood gives the painting a very rustic feeling — the shirt and hat in the top right corner are expertly painted to look worn out, and the expression on the man's droopy-eyed face is perfectly highlighted by the ray of light.