Watercolor Artist - USA (2020-04)

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Anne McCartney

As a Canadian

landscape

painter, I can’t

help being

infl uenced by the

Group of Seven

member Tom

Thomson (1877–

1917), but there’s

also a nostalgic

reason that his

piece, The Jack

Pine, speaks to me. Thomson’s innovative

painting style beautifully captures Algonquin

Park, in Ontario, and conjures up strong

memories of my youth. I spent many

summers canoe-tripping on the lake that

Thomson painted—also, sadly, the same lake

where the artist mysteriously drowned.

Carole McDermott

I was listening to Gershwin’s “American in Paris”

on the car radio. The cacophony of the

contemporary city sounds, transformed into

magical music, reminded me of my favorite

cityscape, Colossus, a painting of the George

Washington Bridge in New York City by

Antonio Masi. The mammoth structure is

glazed, and beautifi ed, creating a poetic,

atmospheric

depiction of the

bustle of urban

life. It occurred to

me that Masi had

accomplished in

watercolor the

same artistic feat

as Gershwin.

Colossus (watercolor

on paper, 40x30)

by Antonio Masi

Paul Jackson

My favorite landscape is Christina’s World by

Andrew Wyeth. It was the very fi rst piece of

art I was introduced to, growing up in rural

Mississippi. There was a print of the painting

in my grade school library, and I’d often stare

at it, imagining myself someplace else.

I’ve since seen the original in person and

was brought to tears. I’ve also made the

pilgrimage to the Olson Farm and found the

exact spot where Wyeth stood to capture this

amazing scene. I think Christina Olson must

have been picking blueberries, as they hide in

the grass there. Wyeth and Olson are both

buried within 100 yards of this spot.

The Jack Pine (1916–17; oil on canvas,

50⅓ x55) by Tom Thomson

NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA