T O W N S C A P E
C A R E L W I L L I N K 1 9 3 4
A menacing sky looms over a deserted street
with a few isolated buildings scattered here
and there. This nightmare vision forecasts
another war in Europe, and another humanitarian
cataclysm for the still young Twentieth Century.
Dutch painter Carel Willink embraced Magic Realism -
an accurately rendered reality displayed in an
eerie welcome to an unnatural world.
F R I E D E N S R E I C H H U N D E R T W A S S E R 1 9 6 2
Straight lines are godless and immoral.
That was the artist Hundertwasser's
starting point in architectural thinking.
We should focus on one's emotions.
The forms here are organic, whimsical.
The colors bright and playful.
A sprinkle of silver snowflakes
adds melancholy, in nuance.
M A N W I T H S P E C T A C L E S
M S T I S L A V D O B U Z H I N S K Y 1 9 0 6
St. Petersburg, still under the rule of Tzar Nicholas.
The guy with the glasses is a poet friend of
the artist. Behind him is the steady encroachment
of urban blight on all that is natural.
The soulless progression to obtain greater efficiencies.
Who speaks up for objectives other than industrial
goals? And if someone does, who would listen?
Who among those gathered with power
would take action in defense of the voiceless?
The Twentieth Century.
It was the best of times.
It was the worst of times.
S H A D O W O F N I G H T
R O B E R T Q U A L T E R S 1 9 8 5
Mundane street life bathed in the flagrant colors
of a Pittsburgh sunset. People do what they do
in keeping the street vibrant. No matter what.
The steel mills close. Jobs disappear.
Families move elsewhere for work.
People remain.
Life still fills the streets of Pittsburgh.
Robert Qualters paints his affection
for the people of this, his hometown.
S I X O ' C L O C K , W I N T E R
J O H N F R E N C H S L O A N 1 9 1 2
Rush hour crowd catches their commute home
at the Third Avenue El in Manhattan. They are
shop workers, laborers and clerks toughing
through another bone chilling night.
They are energized, definitely not gloomy.
Life is good. The industrial dynamo promises
endless possibilities for mankind's future
once the spigot fully opens.
B O L S H E V I K
B O R I S K U S T O D I E V 1 9 2 0
The flag-carrying Bolshevik towers over
the masses crowding the Lilliputian streets
of Moscow, his red banner unfurling with
the triumph of Communism. Boris Kustodiev's
allegorical painting of the Russian Revolution
provided the symbolism that would become
the standard for Soviet art and propaganda.
The picture was an immediate hit but
Kustodiev was concerned it would be found
provocative. After all, here's the courageous
Lenin marching ever forward, his giant strides
crushing the little people underfoot.
So much for valuing the individual.
* * * * *
OVER EASY
