George Inness Jr. was one of America’s foremost figure and landscape artists and the son of George Inness, an important American landscape painter.
Read MoreCOFFEE IN THE COE: PAT VILES
Originally a silk painting by Pat Viles, that was transformed by a stained-glass artist.
On Thursday, April 11, artist Pat Viles was host to Hickory Museum of Art’s Coffee in the Coe group in her gorgeous home and art studio. A decades-long resident of North Carolina, Pat’s resume includes exhibitions around the globe. The permanent collection at Hickory Museum of Art is fortunate enough to contain three painted silk works by the artist. Her silk works give an appearance close to that of stained glass, evident in the stained glass version of one of her pieces in her entryway. The group was given a tour of Pat’s staggering collection of artworks by her peers.
Queen of Hearts by Wayne Trapp
During the tour, the group explored the works of artists that Viles encountered in a diverse range of settings. James Godwin Scott was an artist that she came to know during his time teaching throughout Europe. She has several of his works in her collection. Pat expressed regret over not acquiring additional pieces by Wayne Trapp that were part of a series that included his work, Queen of Hearts. She described how much this work spoke to her. To date, Viles has not located the other pieces in order to reunite them. An interesting work from artist, Charles Reid, a scene that depicted hunters stalking a bear, was included in the tour. She assured everyone that the bear did get away. Through the tour, the group was exposed to a multitude of artists and works. When Viles spoke of her collection, it was with warmth, like one would speak of dear friends.
Pat has traveled the globe to create her works. She shared her completed works, sketchbooks, and works in progress. Many of the sketches she shared were from Greece and the Mediterranean. Works by her peers were also created all over the world. She discussed working as a translator in France, asking only to be compensated with a work from the artist.
In the studio, Viles shared various works and techniques for watercolors and silk collages. She included a work that used the resist painting method, where a substance is used to prevent the paints from absorbing into all parts of the painting. One of the pieces shared included imagery from the local baseball team, the Hickory Crawdads. In this work, the colors are vivid and the resist used is black instead of a more traditional colorless boundary, resulting in a vibrant work to behold. Many of Pat’s works include local subject matter such as the baseball team or downtown Hickory.
This post is # 33 of the 75 stories to celebrate HMA's 75 years
Post by Kelly Dickinson, an intern at Hickory Museum of Art. She majors in Art Management with a Minor in Nonprofit Management at Appalachian State University and graduates in May 2019.
LaVon Van Williams Jr (born 1958)
Williams played basketball for the University of Kentucky with the team that won the NCAA national championship in 1978, and after graduation he played professionally in Italy and Japan. After years of the strict practice regimen of college and professional basketball, the freedom of woodworking was
Read MoreSteve Brooks (born 1962)
The most recent Fan Favorite painting showcased in HMA’s Whitener Gallery is Steve Brooks’ 2019 After the Storm . Steve explains that the setting is near Trout Lake in the Blowing Rock area, and commented that “there’s a whole lot more earth” in this painting than he typically includes.
Read MoreExquisite miniatures were a big hit
Don’t miss out! The magnifying glasses are provided to help you see all the amazing details of these works. The exhibit continues until March 17, 2019.
Read MoreArlee Trivett Mains (1935-2019)
HMA has just learned of the passing of the Appalachian folk artist Arlee Trivett Main. In 2016, HMA was honored to host an exhibition of her many memory paintings. The Museum mourns her passing while also being reminded of the continuing importance of discovering and preserving folk art..
Read MoreHMA's 75th birthday celebration was WOW!!
Trumpeter Spencer Wright announces another event at the Light Up the Night Gala celebrating HMA’s 75th birthday. An amazing evening remembered in mostly pictures.
Read MoreBessie Harvey (1929-1994)
My art has been blessed and sent all over, and I’ve been seen on television, and all of this is just to say that God is God, and there is no other. ... The art is his, and I’m blessed to be the one to do it, and in it there is no evil, because in him there is no evil. He lives in me, and I in him, so
Read MoreAuthenticating a Willem de Kooning work
The Lenoir-Rhyne students were asked how they might figure out the authenticity of HMA’s unsigned work attributed to Willem de Kooning. There is in fact no doubt that the work is by de Kooning, but the students did not know this prior to their own explorations.
Read MoreShirley Pruden (1927-2007)
A February 16, 1953 article in The Hickory Daily Record on the topic of HMA’s 1952 acquisitions says of Shirley Pruden's The Aerialist, the first work by a woman artist purchased by HMA, “It is an excellent work which shows superb knowledge of
Read MoreJohann Berthelsen (1883-1972)
Though a 1905 graduate of the The Music Conservatory of Chicago College of Performing Arts who toured the United States and Canada as lead baritone for the Chicago Grand Opera Company, Berthelsen was best known as a painter who
Read MoreJerry A. Goodnight (born 1941)
Jerry Goodnight (b. 1941)
Spoons, 1979
oil on canvas
Gift of the artist in honor of the HMA’s 40th anniversary, 1984.6
Life-long North Carolina resident Jerry Goodnight credited Mickey Whitener Coe, HMA's second director, with encouraging him to continue with his art, beginning in college. “Mickey Coe is one of the greatest things that ever happened to me” he once said.
Read MoreMinnie Reinhardt (1898-1986)
"There's not anybody now, I don't think, who paints that saw what I saw, like cutting wheat and picking cotton and making molasses and all that stuff.” She showed all the hard work it took to provide for yourself and your family on a small farm.
Read MoreMaud Florance Gatewood (1934-2004)
Maud Gatewood once said, “[Art] is like people: If you meet a person that's absolutely pleasant, they tend to be innocuous. Nothing's worse than being pleasant.” Another time she said, “I think you learn that life isn't always straightforward. Ambiguity might be the heart of life as well as art.”
Read MoreHerbert Singleton (1945-2007)
Louisiana native Herbert Singleton’s brightly painted woodcarvings are often autobiographica. However, he also carved biblical stories, Voodoo icons, and scenes of local African-American cultural traditions. He had his own voice, a very strong
Read MoreElliott Daingerfield's Grand Canyon adventure
A most unusual sunset… the sky along the horizon was as red as a pigeon-blood ruby; it was as though the sun shone through a stained glass window. … Slowly the color faded from the sky and the distant
Read MoreRomare Bearden (1911-1988)
Early on, Charlotte-born and Harlem-raised Bearden debated whether to be an artist, a musician, or a professional baseball player. Deciding on art, he used ideas from math and music, especially jazz, along with aspects of his many other influences. As a result
Read MoreAsher Brown Durand (1796-1886)
Durand was passionate about nature, it made him fundamentally happy to be in it, of it, to look at it, absorb it, paint it. For Durand, painting nature was a form of self-expression, communicating
Read MoreMarjorie Jay Daingerfield (1900-1977)
In an interview in 1977, Marjorie’s sister Gwendoline said of Marjorie that “she wanted to be a sculptor since kindergarten when she first worked with colored clay. Daddy was so proud of everything she did.”
Read MoreElla E. Richards (active 1st half of 20th cent.)
The Violinist is also a rather dramatic illustration of the value of proper conservation of any work of art. As had been the practice for hundreds of years and
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