Art and music needs no language. Once you delve into them, they speak to you in their own way. Personally, I feel every artist has a story to tell. I don't know much about art, but I admire the story behind every piece of art.
So when I found myself today at a Clifford Holmead Philips art show at Ahrensburg, I was mesmerized by this expressionist's strokes of brush. The young Phillips was born in
1889 and apprenticed in his father's furniture factory in his late teens. His
life took a sudden turn when he accidentally ran over a chicken in 1912. German
art collector Alfred Moeke, who helped organize the exhibition of Phillips' paintings at
Shippensburg University's Kauffman Gallery,
says Phillips vowed never again to eat meat or own an automobile. He sold his
auto and bought an ocean-liner ticket.
During a six-month journey
around Europe, he spent much of his time in art museums and determined to
become a painter.
Even though his earlier work was influenced by European expressionism and mostly related to Bibilical myths, it was his later work on capturing human facial expressions that fascinated me the most.
They were dark, cynical and rough. Also I learned for the first time what shorthand painting was all about.
