C. S. Price Transcends the Mundane in American Western Painting

Clayton S. Price (1874-1950) wandered the rugged western states for a good part of his early life. Though he occupied himself during those long hard years by sketching wildlife, simple people, and frontier landscapes, he did not receive any formal training as an artist until he enrolled at the St. Louis School of the Fine Arts at the age of 32. He quickly lost interest in what he saw as a limiting, realistic style aggressively promoted by his instructors. He might have given up painting altogether, were it not for his making acquaintance with the European impressionist Piazzoni in 1915. By 1920 he was studying under the outdoor genre impressionist Carl Hanson, who supported his student's experimentation with Western American iconography. The culmination of this renewed sense of direction and purpose was an abstract expressionistic treatment of subject matter hitherto exotic, if not alien, to his East Coast (and certainly European) counterparts. The vitality Price derived from this unseemly juxtaposition persisted throughout his career, and is indeed exemplified in later work such as The Fisherman. The employment of a marine setting is a recognizable inheritance from painter-fisherman (and fisherman painter) Hanson, as from the established school of Monterey-based painters with whom Price had been familiar.

The manner in which the subjects are portrayed sets up another level of contradiction; a mundane scene is elevated to something ethereal, transcendental and eternal, consummating in an odd echo of the quotidian drama conjured in works of religious genre (an approach taken by this artist in earlier oil paintings, such as Public Market, Portland). Highly subjective and ambiguous in narrative, The Fisherman could provoke any kind of response from the viewer, contingent upon its values and background-- one could regard it as a rough, yet majestic, depiction of the simple man and a fitting encomium to righteousness; another might find it sloppy, even childish, grotesque, degenerate, or disturbing (particularly where its supernatural undertones are felt) owing to its undeniable crudity.

Everything component in this rigidly balanced and minimalistic composition (not the least being the diminishing perspective of a strikingly uncrafted net in the foreground) unswervingly directs the viewer's attention to the "fisherman." This lone figure stands in the modest vessel (as if it was standing on the water itself) with a dignified composure that has a gravity of its own. Despite its position in the midground, the figure is carried to the very front of the canvas. Wispy highlighting around the head could be interpreted as a nimbus. Its ritualistic posture, as well as a hooded garment that is suggestive of a religious vestment, serves to reinforce the spiritual impact of the scene. The figure engages the viewer emotionally and psychologically, whilst the cast netting engages the viewer quite physically. The boat is highly simplified and perhaps diminished in size, serving as a compositional foundation for, but not a distraction from, its mysterious occupant. The waters at the shore are remarkably calm; the only waves that are evident roll out from the boat in concentric succession, emphasizing the centrality and fixedness of the figure. Beyond the shoreline, the entire background is so stylized, fanciful and severe that it nearly disintegrates into a state of non-representation.

Price appears to have been quite comfortable with the bare-knuckled technique with which he applied oil to the canvas-- apparently by way of a palette knife. His admitted influence by Paul Cezanne is recognizable in the figure's face in that differentiated color, as opposed to line, is used to define the contours of its features. Comparison of this section of the image in enhanced lighting with that of low, ambient lighting demonstrates the singular utility of this technique; contrasts of value breaks down, while the density and form hold. The facial features-- the only section of the image that has received any attention to detail-- are sharpened to the extent that they are totemic. Darkened areas cut out deep, shadowy contours, creating a sense of depth found nowhere else in the painting. Each gob of swirling, earthy-rich pigments is swiped onto the surface in thick, roughly hewn blocks. Shape is manipulated to establish context and emphasis; color is appointed to set boundaries, to indicate textures and even to express mood. Deep within the heavy spread of oil, the various hues seem to compete with one another to break out into full view. The upshot is an indelicate expressionistic impressionism. This course and visceral handling is befitting of the artist (who was known to prefer to paint from memory rather than from concrete models), as it readily communicates the fluid, fleeting substance of fantasy.

Sources cited

http://www.hardygalleries.com

http://www.kargesfineart.com/clayton-s-price-biography.html

http://www.opb.org/programs/oregonexperience/artmakers

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armin_Hansen