Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters: This painting requires a little history. In 1797, Goya began a series of prints, Capriccios, in which he was critical of Spanish culture, avarice, greed, and the political climate that fostered it. Goya believed reason was asleep, and Fenton believes we too are asleep. Many of us are so involved in our little worlds that we fail to see all the problems that are descending upon us en masse. We are not talking to our enemies while conducting war and producing still more enemies; we are giving our freewheeling, well-greased economic machine a blind eye and a blank check; our powerhouse auto industry is producing energy-inefficient cars that are increasingly unwanted; we are damaging our environment by ignoring global warming; and we are ignoring the needs of the medically uninsured, contributing to skyrocketing medical costs. All the while, North Korea is building and testing nuclear weapons, and Iran is doing the same and threatening Israel. In Fenton’s painting, most of the figures are self-absorbed in their own world, with the exception of the little girl (Fenton’s granddaughter Leila), who is peeping around the corner. The little girl is in the process of expanding her world, and her image suggests that hope is around the corner when the predator birds are descending. Her awareness is the inspiration for this painting and our hope around the corner as well.
Tag: series
Gertrude’s Trunk- Boys will be Boys
This is part of the Gertrude’s Trunk series and highlights the astonishing energy pictured by the long-gone youthful participants.
Gertrude’s Trunk- My New Hat
Rummaging through an old trunk once owned by Gertrude Hodgeman, a missionary nurse who worked in China, Fenton came across photographs, including one that had the pencil inscription “My New Hat” scrawled on the surface. Knowing that Ms. Hodgeman was long gone and thinking about the inscription, the artist was inspired to create a series of paintings dealing with the energy and vigor of the pictured youth and the fleetingness of that energy, idealism, and life itself.
Gertrude’s Trunk- June 1915
This is part of the Gertrude’s Trunk series and portrays a highly romantic and nostalgic honeymoon in Niagara Falls at the beginning of the 20th century.