Guy Pêne du Bois

It is a little disingenuous for me to title my entry with the artist's name since I know I'll get lots of hits from people searching Google, so I will say that up front in the first sentence in case you were looking for information on this amazing painter.  I haven't much authoritative to say since I will not have seen his work until after this is posted.  Hence. . . .

Today was an awful, dreadful day of factory talk.  New statutes, new goals, new regulations . . . yada, yada, yada.  There are people who are awfully good at this because they have decided to be and in truth I have to admire them for the achievement.  I don't think myself better for not being interested in what I consider to be inconsequential dross, for they have succeeded at this where I have not succeeded at anything.  They were more determined than I, and they found their niche.  I give them all of that.

So tomorrow, I am taking a vacation day to go about town and see the sights.  And there are many, really.  Today I managed to exit a bit early and get some exercise.  I went to the hotel gym and then for a long walk and run.  I ran to the place where I used to keep my boat.  I looked for my old slip, but I wasn't sure which dock I had been on absolutely.  It looked to me as if all the same boats were there.  Funny that.  But I had little pull to do that again.

Tomorrow, though, I will rise slowly, drink coffee, read the news, and then go for a long walk.  I will clean up, check out, and go to the museum.  They have a Guy Pêne du Bois exhibit.  And many others.  I will let you know.

He was especially good in the '20s and 30's, I think.  For me.  There seems to be the same sense of desperation and isolation and stoicism I see in paintings by Hopper.  They often use the same color pallet from what I can tell from the small sampling of internet images I have seen.  But there is something, too, of Max Beckman.

I'm not an art historian, so I'm willing to be contradicted on this.  But I respond to what I see in these paintings as an existential posturing of his figures whether they be vulnerable or harsh.

Besides that, I just think they are pretty.  His paintings speak to me in a way that I want to speak to you.  I'll let you know what I see.

Until then, listen to this Ellington song from the 20s and dream.