Ground Hog's Day
Will the groundhog see his shadow today, signaling six more weeks of winter? While you await this furry prognosticator's verdict on our weather, cavort with these happy, American animals.
Ground Hog's Day Will the groundhog see his shadow today, signaling six more weeks of winter? While you await this furry prognosticator's verdict on our weather, cavort with these happy, American animals.
John Wilde's "place" is a fantasy occupied by numerous cavorting animals of sundry descriptions, a nude lady, and a leering man, who is shown peering around a door frame. Every visage and aspect are meticulously drawn. Subtle brushwork based on a delicate line emphasizes the painting's otherworldliness. An inventive tour de force, it relies on techniques that early Renaissance artists would have applauded.
Source: National Museum of American Art (CD-ROM). (New York and Washington D.C.: MacMillan Digital in cooperation with the National Museum of American Art, 1996).
Pictured: John Wilde, born 1919, Happy, Crazy, American Animals and a Man and Lady at My Place,1961, oil, 12 x 17 7/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc.