From the Artist: I am not an abstract kind of guy so I feel the need to explain the what and why of my painting. In the early 50's I was in the army stationed at Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri. On week-end passes we would go to St. Louis and, at night, we went to clubs where they played jazz
and blues. Hence, St Louis Blues.
In the painting we have the Mississippi River in the front. The Gateway Arch, on the right was not there in the 50's but has become a symbol of St Louis and so is included. In the middle of the arch is the court house where the Dred Scott case began. The blue rectangles are buildings, you need lots of buildings to make a city. They are blue to depict the 'blues'. It is sunset because the clubs open after dark.
My wife and I have visited the arch and rode up inside for a great view of St Louis and the Mississippi.
From the Painting Guide: Your explanation adds another level of enjoyment to the painting by turning it from an anonymous city into a specific one. Doing so (or not) is always the artist's prerogative, as is reading it (or not) the viewer's, but a strong painting will always stand without one. And I think this painting of yours does because of the strong graphic style of it (even if it would leave a viewer wondering where or what the arch was).
I particularly like the way the colors of the setting sun echo the arch, but the sun doesn't line up neatly below the arch (that would be excessively neat and tidy to my mind). The roughness in the colors of the sky give me a sense of pollution impacting on the air above the city, while the strong band of waves in the foreground give a sense of the sea relentlessly lapping at the city's feet.
In the painting we have the Mississippi River in the front. The Gateway Arch, on the right was not there in the 50's but has become a symbol of St Louis and so is included. In the middle of the arch is the court house where the Dred Scott case began. The blue rectangles are buildings, you need lots of buildings to make a city. They are blue to depict the 'blues'. It is sunset because the clubs open after dark.
My wife and I have visited the arch and rode up inside for a great view of St Louis and the Mississippi.
From the Painting Guide: Your explanation adds another level of enjoyment to the painting by turning it from an anonymous city into a specific one. Doing so (or not) is always the artist's prerogative, as is reading it (or not) the viewer's, but a strong painting will always stand without one. And I think this painting of yours does because of the strong graphic style of it (even if it would leave a viewer wondering where or what the arch was).
I particularly like the way the colors of the setting sun echo the arch, but the sun doesn't line up neatly below the arch (that would be excessively neat and tidy to my mind). The roughness in the colors of the sky give me a sense of pollution impacting on the air above the city, while the strong band of waves in the foreground give a sense of the sea relentlessly lapping at the city's feet.