Lot 180
Lockwood "Woody" Dennis (American, 1937-2012). "House 31" oil on canvas, 2009. A gorgeous painting by Lockwood Dennis depicting a carmine red and warm white house beside a cobalt blue van, all lit up by the glowing pink sky in the background. The flowing boughs of a towering tree are featured on the left and a verdant pine rises to the right, its lush branches rendered in liberal strokes that contrast the sharp, geometric form of the domestic structure. Dennis's paintings of landscapes frequently feature the radiant sky of a sunrise or sunset in the background, as seen in this example. Aside from the painterly aesthetic this naturally grants a piece, it also places the scene in a liminal space, occupying the transitional time between day and night; perhaps dually reflecting Dennis's own beliefs on the ephemeral nature of painting, once stating: "A principle impetus to paint is to make experiences more lasting, but paintings don't last either, and if you can't remember the experience, a painting won't do much anyway." Size: 10" W x 8" H (25.4 cm x 20.3 cm)
Lockwood "Woody" Dennis was driven to paint throughout his 45 year career. Painting was the most personal and rewarding artistic endeavor for Dennis. Each canvas reveals new aspects about him as a person - his approaches to life, the environment, and art. During the early years, Dennis was most influenced by the works of Post-Impressionist pioneers of early Modernism such as Cezanne and Matisse. In time, Dennis developed a graphic style informed by the style and imagery he created for his woodblock prints.
Lockwood Dennis was quite eloquent and insightful when asked about his art. The following is an excerpt from the "On Impetus" section of his "Philosophical Musings on Painting": "The impetus to paint is always an experience - a specific place, weather, ordinary things remembered. A celebration of just being here, experiencing the world. The experience itself is somehow lost in the process, and, anyway, its not intended that it should be conveyed. The result is a picture animated by that experience. Dennis continues, "A painting starts with an exuberance. It's good to be alive. The work is a wonderful place. The feeling seems to cover everything, but it relates especially to past experiences, beginning further back than I can remember. It becomes specific in associations with past experiences: Portland, Eastern Washington, Africa; but not with an exact description. The memory of a precise place and time - a moment of past reality is too terrible to bear, there is such a sense of loss, of things gone forever. So it is a present experience, based on the past. And perhaps the cartoon character adds the levity to remove it from the past, or 'animate' it in the present."
Lockwood Dennis' paintings have been collected by the following museums and organizations: Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington; Seattle Art Commission, Seattle, Washington; Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Salem, Oregon; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, Washington; Swedish Medical Center Foundation, Seattle, Washington; Museum of History and Industry, Seattle, Washington; Jefferson Museum of Art and History, Port Townsend, Washington; Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington; Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, Washington; Clallam County Historical Society, Port Angeles, Washington; Bainbridge Island Art Museum, Winslow, Washington; US Library of Congress, Washington, DC; US State Department, Washington, DC.
Provenance: Lockwood Dennis Art Estate, Boulder, Colorado, USA
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#185654
- Condition: In excellent overall condition. Old inventory number and title inscribed on top periphery of canvas.
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