“Edge of the Ravine” Eric Sloane, N.A. (1905-1985) Oil on Masonite
Despite the current cold spell we are experiencing, the calendar suggests that there may not be much more time to enjoy the ski season – get out and enjoy the slopes!
Photo from Aware: A Retrospective of the life and work of Eric Sloane by Wil Mauch. Used by permission.
To learn more about the Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum and our mission to assist in the preservation and interpretation of the Eric Sloane Museum and its collection, click here. While you’re there, please consider making a donation online to our new hands-on classroom project.
“Winter Winds” Eric Sloane, N.A. (1905-1985) 40″ x 24″ Oil on Masonite
Appropos of this evenings weather here at Weather Hill. “I found that the pioneer countryman was peculiarly aware of the sky, with an extraordinary knowledge of weather because his daily living so depended upon it.” – Eric Sloane
From Aware: A Retrospective of the life and work of Eric Sloane by Wil Mauch.
“Winter” Eric Sloane, N.A. Original Pen and Ink Illustration
I love this charmer! It also happens to include my spirit animal, the rabbit. I have come across very, very few illustrations or paintings by Eric in which he painted a rabbit. Horses, yes – though Sloane admitted he had “…such difficulty with drawing horses’ legs that I usually compromised by having my animals standing in high grass”. {From Sloane’s Recollections in Black and White}. In “Winter”, those hooves appear to be obfuscated by snow. But that rabbit sure stands out!
“It was Sloane’s friendship with Wiley Post that introduced him to a new area of artistic exploration…Sloane wrote of flying with Post one day when the aviator told him that ‘Someday an artist will come along and just paint clouds and sky’. -From Aware: A Retrospective of the life and work of Eric Sloane by Wil Mauch. Used by permission.
“The Winnie Mae” Oil on Masonite
To learn more about the Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum and our mission to assist in the preservation and interpretation of the Eric Sloane Museum and its collection, see www.friendsoftheericsloanemuseum.org. While you’re there, please consider making a donation online to our new hands-on classroom project.
Eric Sloane – Deeley Gallery Manchester Village, Vermont October 1-19, 1971
Learn more about this most talented and fascinating American artist at www.weatherhillfarm.com.
To learn more about the Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum and our mission to assist in the preservation and interpretation of the Eric Sloane Museum and its collection, see www.friendsoftheericsloanemuseum.org. While you’re there, please consider making a donation online to our new hands-on classroom project.
Not much of this going on around here as of late….
Eric Sloane, N.A. Sunlight and Shadow Oil on Panel 23.50″ x 31.50″ c. 1950
Photo from Wil Mauch’s Symbols of American Spirit: 50 Years of the Eric Sloane Museum
Some admirers of the works of Eric Sloane are startled to discover that the artist painted more than a few ski scenes during the early 1950s. Eric’s sister Dorothy explained to me that Eric received a large, “coffee table book” in full color of scenes of Switzerland some time in the late 1940s and was captivated by photographs of the Alps. What followed, according to Dorothy, was a period in which Eric produced scenes similar to Sunlight and Shadow. Some of the paintings were set in Europe, while others were set in New England or the Rocky Mountain region of the Western United States.
It would seem as if Sloane’s fascination with painting ski scenes was short lived, probably not more than a few years at most. – Wil Mauch, Symbols of American Spirit: 50 Years of the Eric Sloane Museum.
“Away back in 1969, when we first researching EAS {Early American Society, eventual publisher of Early American Life magazine}, we wrote to Mr. Sloane. In three days we had an answer. That’s a “sign” because he gets 200 letters a day! He liked the idea of EAS, but was too busy to become a part of the staff, which was what we wanted.” Though he turned down the offer, he was crafty enough to have them write an article on the newly opened Eric Sloane Museum! To learn more about the Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum and our mission to assist in the preservation and interpretation of the Eric Sloane Museum and its collection, see www.friendsoftheericsloanemuseum.org. While you’re there, please consider making a donation online to our new hands-on classroom project.
Leave it to Eric Sloane to create illustrations that convey so much information. His ability to do so did not go unnoticed early in his career. Several authors of pre-War II aviation books and articles tapped Eric as an illustrator, and the Army Air Corps published more than one training manual for pilots that made use of his illustrations. Photo used by permission, from Wil Mauch’s Aware: A Retrospective of the Life and Work of Eric Sloane.
“…whereas I used to add a tiny barn or farm building to give further identity to a cloudscape, I was now using a touch of sky merely to enhance more elaborate farm scenes.” – Eric Sloane
October Colors 19″ x 33″ Oil on Masonite
Notice Eric’s use of the word “cloudscape” in his quote above, a word the artist said that he coined. The treatment of the sky in general, and clouds in particular, is critical to ascertain authenticity of the artist’s works.
I’ve often wondered who was the first to ascend into the air for the purpose of painting the clouds. I know Eric was doing so as early as at least 1930. But I’ve seen enough early air show/contest posters from Europe in which the artwork was rendered by someone who had clearly been in a balloon or airplane to be able to create the effect of air, sky, and cloud so effectively from a pilot’s perspective.
Photo used by permission, from Wil Mauch’s Aware: A Retrospective of the Life and Work of Eric Sloane.
To learn more about the Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum and our mission to assist in the preservation and interpretation of the Eric Sloane Museum and its collection, see www.friendsoftheericsloanemuseum.org. While you’re there, please consider making a donation online to our new hands-on classroom project.
Eric Sloane, N.A. Untitled 23″ x 35″ Oil on Masonite
While unfortunately not titled, we know that this scene depicts an early American “saltbox” house, so referenced because of the resemblance to, well, a saltbox. In 18th and 19th century America, the saltbox was present in nearly every kitchen. Usually made of wood and with a slanting lid to make adding and removing salt easier, the saltbox did indeed resemble the shape of the “saltbox” home. Incidentally, most 18th and early 19th century American homes faced south to take maximum advantage of the winter arc of the sun, yielding more heat and light into the house. The rear – or north facing – side of the house was sloped so that the cold northern winds would blow over the house. Few if any windows were present on the north side of these early homes.
With thanks to Wil Mauch of Weather Hill Farm. Photo used by permission, from Wil Mauch’s Aware: A Retrospective of the Life and Work of Eric Sloane. To learn more about the Friends of the Eric Sloane Museum and our mission to assist in the preservation and interpretation of the Eric Sloane Museum and its collection, see www.friendsoftheericsloanemuseum.org. While you’re there, please consider making a donation online to our new hands-on classroom project.
