Earlier in this expanding blog I mentioned that my grandmother, Emaline Walker Phillips, had worked hard to become an accomplished painter, and posted two of her works. This portrait is another one that particularly pleases me, the piercing look of this older gentleman captures my attention every time I see it... who was he? What was going on in his mind? Her treatment of his rough blue shirt reminds me strongly of Van Gogh's Postman, and the heavy golden strokes in the backdrop bring to mind some of Cezanne's backgrounds in gray for certain still-lifes he did... now I'm not saying my grandmother was in the same league as Van Gogh or Cezanne... but then again... In any case, this portrait really works for me. May her gentle, loving soul rest in peace.
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3 comments:
This is a painting I don't remember seeing. Any idea when she did it? Certainly a striking portrait.
emaline walker phillips of atlantic city, new jersey? perhaps we are long-lost relatives!
What a superb portrait. Your grandmother looks like she has really captured the essence of her subject. Her painterly skills seem pretty accomplished to me. Isn't it interesting to have that continuity of interest in image running through your family. I have thought about this before now... what would photographers of the last 150 years or so have been drawn to if they had lived before photography?
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