Oregon Voices: Artist Ray Strong: An Enduring Vision of the Oregon Landscape

Abstract

OREGON VOICES Artist Ray Strong An EnduringVision ofthe Oregon Landscape by Mark Humpal IT WAS A CRISPOCTOBERMORN ingas our two-car caravan headed out from the Frenchglen Hotel, bouncing along the dusty,washboarded road to the top of SteensMountain. In thevan ahead ofme rode one-hundred-year old artist Ray Strong, who had con fided tome in early 2004 that he had always dreamed of seeing and painting the distinctive notch-topped moun tainbut, forvarious reasons, had never made the trip.After we reached the turnout forKiger Gorge and surveyed theheavily rock-strewn path to itsrim, we realized it would be impossible to roll Strong's wheelchair to a suitable viewpoint forhim to sketch.Four ofus decided to carryhim down, wheelchair and all?"sultan style"?to an appro priate spot near the rim of the gorge. There Strongwent towork, sketching the scene in charcoal on canvasboard with his remarkably large, steady hands seemingly undiminished by time. From there,we traveled further up, to the edge of theEast Rim, where Strong viewed firsthand the extensive panorama of theAlvord Desert. That evening, he amused dinner guests at the Frenchglen Hotel with entertain ing stories delivered in a booming voice and with occasional harmonica accompaniment. I firstmet Ray Strong in February 2004, afterarranging to interview him regarding his activities with another Oregon painter, Clyde Leon Keller. Who better to ask about Keller, I thought, than an artistwho painted with him for over three years in the 1920s? When I arrived at Strong's home and studio in Santa Barbara, I was welcomed by an alert,bright, and outgoing man of ninety-nine years who gladly answered each question in detail with colorful language and ges tural animation. Strong fullyaddressed my questions regarding Keller, and we proceeded to spend the remainder of the afternoon discussing themany Oregon paintings tucked here and there inhis studio, some ofwhich had been painted as long ago as themid 19208.As I reflected over the day that evening, Idecided therewas an equally fascinating butmore timely storytobe 98 OHQ vol. 109, no. I ? 2008 Oregon Historical Society ?;w$mB pTTT^T^ ^f^^0fCk Aftergettinghisfirstglimpse ofSteens Mountain inOctober 2005, centenarian artist Ray Strong sketches Kiger Gorge on canvasboard. told than theone Iwas currentlydevel oping on Keller and the earlyOregon Impressionists. I decided to focusmy attention on Strong's lifeand art and spent the following three days inter viewing him and becoming familiar with hiswork through the many paint ings scattered about his large studio. Strongwas enlivened bymy interestin his painting activities inOregon, and I soon discovered thathis connections to the Pacific Northwest were lasting and extensive.Our lengthydiscussions about all things Oregon reawakened his desire to return to the state and paint in areas he had not seen before: I never made it to Eastern Oregon_I always dreamed that sometime Iwould_ [Idid go] outsideofDufur,the barehillsout ofThe Dalles, John Day countryatdifferent times over 30 to 40 years. Inever really got to Eastern Oregon or Steens Mountain. I always wanted to get to Wallowa Lake... yes it's the kind of thingIwould havewished tohave gotten, but never did.1 Today, artistRay Strong is consid ered bymany arthistorians and collec tors as one of the foremost California landscape painters of the twentieth century.Perhaps not aswell-known is that Strong has leftan extensive artis tic legacy to his home state,Oregon. His enduring vision of theNorthwest Humpal, Artist Ray Strong 99 landscape was nurtured earlyon by his parents, who were active in theater arts in Portland, most notably acting and singing inproductions ofGilbert and Sullivan musicals held at theApollo Club.2 They also believed in art and music education for all their children and encouraged each child to play a musical instrument; Ray first tried cornet, then switched to flute inhigh school. The Strongfamily celebratesChristmas with neighborsat theirSoutheast Portland home inabout 1914.Standing from leftto rightare Strong'sbrothers Edward andHillman, hismotherEthel, and hisfatherH.W. Seated to the far leftishis brother Winston; Ray ison the floor with a toytrain inhis hand. The neighborsare unidentified. From the time of his teenage years until his early thirties,Strong's artistic talents blossomed and became more refinedas heworked with a succession of art teachers andmentors. Through out...