Down River by Charles Munch

Abstract

View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload (PPT)View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload (PPT)Charles Munch was born in St Louis, Missouri, in 1945. He studied for 2 years at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, then attended the Portland Art Museum School and the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture. After returning to Reed College, he received a degree in painting in 1968.1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Munch_(painter). Accessed September 21, 2012.Google Scholar Much of his professional career has been spent as an art conservator, and he currently resides in Lone Rock, Wisconsin, where he finds inspiration from the surrounding landscape.1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Munch_(painter). Accessed September 21, 2012.Google Scholar Munch’s work has been clearly influenced by the Pop Art movement (a form of art that originated in New York City in the 1960s and included such iconic personages as Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg), as demonstrated in his use of primary colors, bold outlines, and simplified forms. The lack of detail weighs heavily on the power of symbolism, and Munch formally contrasts the struggle between humanity and nature in many of his paintings.2http://www.toryfolliard.com/painting/Charles-Munch.shtml. Accessed September 21, 2012.Google Scholar, 3http://www.thepaine.org/artist-in-res/pastAIR/CharlesMunch/res.htm. Accessed September 21, 2012.Google Scholar He states:The nearness of these varied animals has often led me to meditate on our relationship with them. Are we friends or enemies? Are we spiritually connected? Do they think about us? Is wild or tame better? Can we learn from them? Can we co-exist peacefully? Can they save us?4http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/8aa/8aa20.htm. Accessed September 26, 2012.Google Scholar Down River, consisting of three 40×65-inch panels, features oil on canvas and is highly consistent with the descriptions of Munch’s favored genre. Green pines and white birches bookend the borders of a deep blue river that contains cartoon stylized waves lapping its shoreline. A pair of canoers appears in the foreground and gives the impression that they are more like observers of the mystery rather than interlopers into the pristine woodlands. The bold, bright colors enhance the sense of the presence of sunshine without actually having the sun in the work. Down River is located on the 17th floor of the Gonda Building on the Mayo Clinic campus in Rochester, Minnesota.