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Will Barnet, born 1911,
"Self-Portrait with Crow":
In his self-portrait, we see artist Will Barnet at a window in his Long Island studio, which looks out at Gardiner's Bay, near East Hampton. During his long career as a painter, printmaker, and teacher, Barnet developed a strong personal style that emphasizes spare outlines and muted colors. His companion here is the crow who was a neighbor's pet and at times a visitor to Barnet's studio. The crow's pose mimics the artist's silhouette and gaze. Crows also appear in Barnet's other paintings of the late 1970s and early 1980s, around the time of the self-portrait. Some have mythical themes and are titled "Circe", "Hera," "Persephone," and "The Three Muses", and in these works, birds contribute a mood of almost mysterious stillness.
Self-portrait, 1980 |