[An introduction to Lanford Monroe by Todd Wilkinson, followed, below, by an essay from Monroe's husband, R.E.C. "Chip" Thompson]
By Todd Wilkinson
No one else painted like Lanford Monroe did. Not with so much poise and etherealness, removing the hard edges and replacing them with melding tones that is the palette of memory. Not then, or now. She saw things differently.
Ten years—a full decade—and it seems implausible to think that she has been gone from the scene for so long. But it’s true. On July 4, 2000, American art lost an extraordinary talent when Monroe, just 50, died from a heart attack.
She was at the forefront of a group of women painters and sculptors storming the beaches of wildlife art, a genre regarded for too many years as an old gentlemen’s club, at least in the U.S.
Oh, there were always exceptions, but none who, without acting like a rebel, won the respect of so many gray beards. She could do it all, paint anything, and they knew it, and they welcomed her into the fold as a peer.
As the daughter of famed illustrator, C.E. Monroe, who, along with his good friend Bob Kuhn was part of the “Connecticut Mafia” of artists, Lanford absorbed the finer points of painting via osmosis. In the short span of her life, Monroe not only asserted her presence, but she brought greater sensitivity to portrayals of wildlife and landscape.
Lanford Monroe...
Additional Article Information:
· Article is 1,661 words long (250 are displayed in this preview).
Author: R.E.C. "Chip" Thompson
Post Date:December 27th, 2010
'A decade after her passing, Lanford Monroe's influence as a painter looms larger than ever. A tribute to the artist in imagery and in a moving essay by her husband, Chip Thompson as part of the book Homefields: The Art of Lanford Monroe.
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Research tags: wildlife art, lanford monroe, chip thompson, homefields the art of lanford monroe, bob kuhn, c e monroe, wildlife art, pratt institute, wildlife art journal, wildlifeartjournal.com, wildlife art journal magazine,
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