The Artist - Calvin Fletcher
Calvin Fletcher, fondly known as "The Prof," was born in Provo, Utah, on June 24, 1882. A lover of both art and education, he began studying at an early age and progressed quickly, starting university studies at age 15.
Fletcher's desire to improve motivated him to learn continuously throughout his life. Though originally interested in sculpture, Fletcher chose to pursue his talent as a landscape painter. He was not a painter who created solely according to emotion and intuition; the principles of design were also important to him. Through extensive study of great masters' works, he found the movement from Realism to Abstraction came naturally, because his works were based upon correct design principles. Thus, although Fletcher was a Modernist, his paintings were always based on classical design, even in the most modern of his Expressionist works. His continuous efforts to learn these principles resulted in a deep understanding of art, its history, and its purpose.
Fletcher's life had its share of hardships. In February of 1909, Calvin's first wife, Sara A. Herbert, died, leaving him alone with their two young children. He then married Zettie Ricks in December of that same year. Calvin and Zettie added six children to their family before her death in July of 1925. Finally, in December of 1926, Calvin wed his third wife, Clare Irene Thompson, with whom he had his last six children.
After graduating from Brigham Young Academy, Calvin continued his education in New York, London, Paris and Chicago. Upon finishing his studies, this artist and educator taught both in Utah County schools and also at BYU. In 1907, he became a professor at Utah Agricultural College in Logan, Utah. It was during the 40 years spent there that Fletcher most influenced Utah Art.
Calvin Fletcher led Utah from Impressionism to Modern Expressionism. From the 1920s to the 1940s, Fletcher brought distinguished national artists such as Lee Randolph, Birger Sandzen, BJO Nordfelt, Otis Oldfield, Ralph Stack Pole, and Ralph Pearson to teach summer classes at Utah State Agricultural College. These renowned artists solidified Fletcher's ideas in the minds of Utah's young artists and helped him establish modern art in Utah.
The Art
CALVIN FLETCHER (1882-1963) Provo
Wash Day in Brigham City, 1929
acrylic on board, 24-1/2" x 27" (61.3 x 68.0 cm)
Gift from F. Ed and Judy Bennett, Salt Lake City 1982.034
Both as a student and as head of the Art Department of the Utah State Agricultural College (University), Fletcher interacted with leading Western modernists. Their influence on his work is seen primarily in his inventive compositions. For example, Wash Day in Brigham City is a bold departure from the restrained, conservative Utah painting of the day.
This domestic genre piece shows a woman hanging wet clothes to dry in the frigid northern Utah air. Genre is a term used to describe a painting that portrays scenes from daily life, usually having a narrative quality. This type of subject matter was first used by Dutch seventeenth-century artists, such as Jan Vermeer. Interestingly, we see the trees with most of their leaves still intact even though winter has settled in.
Concepts
Visual Art Core Curriculum - Utah State Office of Education
Under the Standard of Making, this print can help the student:
- color and draw pictures with the sky band extending down from the top of the page to the tops of the mountains, buildings, or horizon.
- portray people and objects in a more natural size relationship.
- create an image of a person or object by copying its outline or contour onto a piece of paper.
- draw vertical objects, such as telephone poles, chimneys, or trees perpendicular to the horizon rather than the diagonal lines upon which they may rest.
- overlap objects as a method of creating a sense of depth in a work of art.
- use a painting medium such as tempera to explore paint processes such as blending colors, layering colors over other colors that are already dried, and/or applying areas of flat color.
Under the Standard of Perceiving, this print can help the student:
- identify the use of secondary and tertiary colors.
- see how to color or paint a work of art using predominantly "warm" or "cool" colors.
- investigate how color can create a sense of harmony within an artwork.
- produce a work of art using a particular color to help display a sense of harmony (for example, sometimes artists use an undercoat of one color to help unify the work).
Under the Standard of Expressing, this print can help the student:
- suggest and investigate possible meanings, stories, interpretations, or themes for this work.
- speculate whether the meaning of a piece of art had changed from its creation to the present.
- describe how line, shape, color, and texture are used to express ideas or convey stories.
Under the Standard of Contextualizing, this print can help the student:
- see how to practice sketching as a means of scientific observation or record keeping.
- observe how everyday tasks can take on added significance when portrayed in art.
© Copyright 1997 Springville Museum of Art
All rights reserved
|
