Tag Archives: painting

Wall Flowers – A Patrick Gordon Retrospective at Philbrook

Heather and I loaded up one day last week and went to Philbrook Museum to check out their Patrick Gordon Retrospective show. He’s a Tulsa area artist who has been painting for years. I am sorry to say that I had never heard of him. That’s sad for me because he is a great artist.

He paints mainly in watercolors but also does oils. He is spectacular with flowers.

The colors are very rich and the effect is overwhelming.

He uses a lot of symbology in his painting. He painted this for his church. The flowers represent the members. The statue of liberty represents freedom. The name of the piece is “Simple Gifts” which is Gordon’s favorite hymn.

He did a lot of commissions. This was for a family and the objects on the table represent things dear to the family. I keyed upon the toy railroad tank car. Apparently the family sold Magnolia Petroleum to one of my former employers, Mobil Oil Corporation, for a huge sum of money. Good for them is what I think.

He did portraits as well. This is “Osage Falconer.” I found it quite striking.

This is entitled “James and Maya.” Another striking portrait.

And I loved this one. He did this in honor of Tulsa’s 100th Anniversary as an incorporated town. The oak leaves and acorns are symbolic of the Council Oak Tree where the Muskogee Native Americans who made the long trek on the trail of tears congregated to form a new town. You have the Arkansas River and the oil tanks symbolic of Tulsa’s place as the Oil Capital of the World. I loved it because of the vantage point. High above the city looking toward the west along the Arkansas River and the sunset.

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This is one of hundreds of photographs I took with a similar vantage point. Before I retired, I took similar photos to his painting during the late fall, winter, and spring from my office. As far as I can tell, his vantage point was higher and to the north of my office building. You notice that I bring everything back to me. I’m bad about that. I’m selfish like that. You don’t have to agree with me so fast about that.

A special treat is that you can watch Pat Gordon paint right in the Philbrook gallery. Check the web site if you want to see him to make sure he is going to be there. They also have an interesting video of him that plays on a continuous loop talking about him. After all these decades he still paints full time in his home. The guy is a painting machine.

You want to go see him check out Philbrook’s web site for the details and get yourself some tickets. It is quite an exhibition. Gordon also has a website of his own with photos of even more works. Go check it out.

I am linking with My Corner of the World.

Our World – An Afternoon at Philbrook Museum of Art

Sunday morning the family got up and Logan had breakfast and we dropped him off at his job at the Neighborhood Walmart and Heather and I went to have breakfast. Afterward we headed out to Tulsa’s Philbrook Museum of Art to check out their newest exhibit “Innovative Expressions” which turned out to be very academic but interesting. It showcased the printmaking  art of Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro.  I learned some things that I didn’t know before. I didn’t take any photos though. Check it out if you are in town. It is open until September 9.

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After the exhibit we toured the three levels of galleries. It doesn’t take us long as we have been there many times before so seeing the art is like meeting old friends. Philbrook does a good job of swapping things out and so we always see things we hadn’t seen before. I love Thomas Moran’s “Grand Canyon” (above).

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And this one is a favorite of mine. I am from New Mexico and too me nothing beats snow on adobe like this, “Tesuque (Dark Houses)” by Theordore Van Soelen. It is also special because when I was born my family was living the Tesuque Ranger Station.

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This is one that I don’t remember seeing but Heather told me that it has been on display before. So meet my new friend, “Bridge over the Stour” by Childe Hassam. I love it.

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Next we went to the gardens of the museum. It had been raining earlier but then settled into a very light sprinkle. The tempietto in the background may be the most photographed item in Tulsa. I think it is beautiful. I’m always trying to think of something new so here I focused on the flowers which caused the tempietto to soften. You can tell there is a person on the other side of the pond who is way out of focus.

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It is my lovely wife, Heather. The gardens at Philbrook are especially lush this time of year. Their gardening staff really works hard keeping things tidy and green.

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I spotted a purple coneflower.

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Another area of the gardens that I liked.

We had a great leisurely couple of hours at Philbrook. It is a great place to get away from it all for a short time. If you plan on visiting check their web site for all sorts of information for days and hours of operation, special exhibits, events and all sorts of other information.

I am linking with Our World Tuesday

Kehinde Wiley’s new Painting at Philbrook

Equestrian Portrait of King Philip IV, 2016-2017 by Kehinde Wiley

I was running around at lunch Thursday and decided to pop in to the Philbrook Museum to check out their new acquisition of Kehinde Wiley’s “Equestrian Portrait of King Philip IV.” I’ve seen several photographs of it but you know, with paintings you really have to be be there.

The painting is huge. It takes up a whole wall. It shows a black man in a modern urban camo outfit atop a horse in a classic pose, complete with a sword. The rest of the painting could have come from a few hundred years ago. It is obvious that the painter is skilled and I didn’t have the “Are you kidding me” reaction I get sometimes with modern art. Wiley has been chosen to paint President Obama’s portrait to be unveiled this year.

The subject in the painting is very engaging. He is kind of half glancing at the room and that has changes the tone from your usual painting. And the painting’s colors are vivid and the paint seems so fresh it sparkles.  It is a striking work.  And yet I worry about how this work will age. Will it still be on display in 50 years or will it be stuck in storage somewhere. I know it is modern art, and nobody knows how modern art is going to “age.” So I am glad that they went got this instead of something “safer.”

I highly recommend that you check this painting out for yourself. Like I said it is a very striking work of art.