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Symphonic Silence 1965 20th Century 21 in. x 34 1/2 in. (53.34 cm x 87.63 cm) Dale Nichols (David City, Nebraska, 1904 - 1995, Arizona) Object Type: Painting Medium and Support: oil on canvas Credit Line: Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert L. Storthz. 1967.004.001 Accession Number: 1967.004.001 Comments: The title of Dale Nichols' imposing alpine landscape, Symphonic Silence, seems self-contradictory. When one thinks of a symphony it is probably of a grand orchestral piece, hardly something silent! To what then is the artist alluding? Clearly the title is both paradox and analogy. Anyone who has ever been at timberline (about 11,000 feet elevation) or above in high mountains, knows the prevailing awesome stillness, where occasional rain, wind, thunder, or blowing snow are the only natural sounds to be heard. Symphonic is the way in which Nichols has "orchestrated" his presentation of majestic rock formation: the low eye-level or viewer sightline, upward thrusting diagonal lines, piercing blue tonalities of a monochromatic color scheme, contrasting hard jagged cliffs above undulating smooth surfaces of snow. The dark, massive land formation at middle distance is both barrier and obstacle, as well as a transition in scale that makes the distant peaks seem all the more stupendous. At lower left meanwhile, a solitary hunter, walking away from the viewer and leaving footprints in the snow, will soon disappear over the hill into the void. The figure's comparatively small scale suggests the finiteness of man against the near-infinite grandeur ahead. The silence is deafening, to borrow and old phrase, as Nichol's mountains play visual forms in glorious concert. Source: Art and Storytelling, William T. Henning, curator, Arkansas Arts Center, 1990

Keywords:

• oil
• painting
• American
• landscape

Keywords:

• Artist:North American:American
• Class:Fine Arts:painting
• Class:Fine Arts:painting:oil
• Subject:nature:landscape

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