Will Barnet
American, 1911-2012
SOLD Aurora, 1977, Oil on canvas, 42 1⁄2 x 102 3⁄4 inches
American artist Will Barnet decided early on he wanted to be an artist. As a boy in Beverly, Massachusetts, where he was born, he spent hours sketching and poring over art books at the local library. The family cellar became his first studio. After studying at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Barnet left for the Art Students League in New York in 1930 and concentrated on lithography. He taught and produced art in New York for more than sixty years, spending summers in Maine from the mid-1950s.
Barnet's works focus primarily on the human (and animal) figure. The family, especially his own, has been an enduring subject for him. Yet his images are not descriptions of individuals but careful arrangements of forms that express moods and feelings. Barnet balances shapes to create strong, interlocking compositions, as is evident in his many prints.
Regarding inspiration, like many American painters of his generation he was digesting the evolving trends in Europe and integrating the new visual vocabulary into his American style while remaining universal, referencing his own personal history with images of his wife, his daughter, and their family pets. While remaining representational, the simple elegance of the figures and their flat surfaces reflect his exploration with abstraction.
Source: National Gallery of Art