the art of poetry
DAVID STOLLER
Here are two beautiful paintings by Wolf Kahn and Henry Snell, and the poems they inspired. The poems are written in the form of a tanka (31-syllables, 5-lines), the predominant form of poetry in Japan for the past 1200 years (established 200 years earlier, if you’re wondering, than the 17-syllable, three-line haiku). The tanka is a favorite form of mine—when I look at a painting, its marvelously simple but exacting form provides a way for me to interpret what I see—or don’t see: the hidden narrative, the private moment, a surprising pause, a timeless impression or feeling.
End of the Wharf, by Henry Bayley Snell.
End of the Wharf
Sundrenched Barn, by Wolf Kahn.
Sundrenched Barn The sundrenched barn broods Above the prow of the hill. It is vanishing Stripped of all incidentals Swept up in color and light. wolf KaHn was one of thousands of Jewish refugee children shepherded from Nazi Germany to England as part of a rescue effort known as “kinder transport.” He settled in America, and after studying with Hans Hoffman (for whom he also worked as his studio assistant), became renowned for his resplendent abstracted landscapes that captured the intoxicating colors of forests, sky, rolling hills and … barns. He said that his art, collected by all the nation’s major museums, “is about intuition, imagination, and fantasy.”
Farewells made, he shrugs Against a chill he now feels. What was it she said? A paper scrap—a note, perhaps— Drifts past, turns, and vanishes. Henry bayley Snell (1858-1943) was among the most important of the Pennsylvania impressionists, excelling as a painter and teacher (counting Fern Coppedge among his most illustrious students). He is collected in major museums around the country, and was appointed the assistant director of fine arts under the U.S. Commission to the Paris Exposition of 1900, leading an American contingent which included Winslow Homer, James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent and Thomas Eakins. He lived with his wife Florence Francis until his death in the Solebury National Bank Building at the corner of Bridge and Main Streets in New Hope.
Fourth in a series of art lectures on Zoom: Helen Frankenthaler, Thursday, May 26, 6:30 p.m. Register at bit.ly/3vm5ICe Recordings of previous presentations in the series at kehilathanahar.org/bagel-u David Stoller has had a career spanning law, private equity, and entrepreneurial leadership. He was a partner and co-head of Milbank Tweed’s global project finance practice and lead various companies in law, insurance, live entertainment and the visual arts. David has been an active art collector over the years, and is the founder of River Arts Press, which published Artists of the River Towns and a collection of his poetry, Finding My Feet. 8
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