The Brooklyn Rail

OCT 2021

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OCT 2021 Issue
ArtSeen

O-I-L Paint
(for Albert Ryder)

Albert Pinkham Ryder, <em>Flying Dutchman</em>, completed by 1887. Oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard, 14 1/4 x 17 1/4 inches. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly.
Albert Pinkham Ryder, Flying Dutchman, completed by 1887. Oil on canvas mounted on fiberboard, 14 1/4 x 17 1/4 inches. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly.

Submerged in the murk of modern life
   Immersed in the murk of oil
The great mark-maker breathes forth clarity
   A clarity of images and emo-
tions born into paint
   A clarity of light and human
compassion
   A clarity of poignant concen-
tration and compression
   A murk clarity transcended
into living tissue.
The First Father, the sea, the rock, the seed,
The Witch Doctor to cure the ills of us all.


Republished with the permission of the artist.

Originally published in the Brooklyn Rail, March 2002.

Contributor

Bill Jensen

Bill Jensen is an artist. He lives in New York.

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The Brooklyn Rail

OCT 2021

All Issues