Eric Sloane Remembered
A look back at the life and achievements of a most prolific painter.
By Emily Van Cleve
Well-known American
painter Eric Sloane died in 1985, but his widow, Mimi Sloane, remembers
practically every detail about his life and work as if it happened yesterday.
He divided his time between homes in Connecticut and Santa Fe and loved
painting the east coast while he was in New Mexico and the southwestern
landscape when he was in New England.
He painted
totally from memory, Mrs. Sloane explains. His work was all
about shapes of light and dark, and he had a way of remembering exactly
where the light came from when he worked in the studio. His eye was so
quick that he only had to see a scene or object for a minute before it
was imprinted in his memory forever.
The Sloanes were
married from 1965-85 and spent most of the later part of their marriage
living in New Mexico. Sloane, who was born Everard Jean Hinrichs, first
set foot in Taos in 1924. Young Everard pondered a suitable name to paint
under and selected Eric from the center of the word America;
then added Sloane, partly in honor of one of his mentors, John Sloan,
from the Art Student League in New York City.
With his new name
he moved back to Taos, began painting and lived at the guesthouse of famous
Russian artist Leon Gaspard. He also spent time at Taos Pueblo. Depicting
Indian ruins was one of his favorite endeavors.
Capturing nature
in its infinite beauty was terribly important to Sloane. While he loved
the southwestern landscape, he was equally drawn to New Englands
quaint beauty. He liked rainy days and darkness. His heart was divided
between capturing the sun-filled New Mexico skies, desert plains, and
mountains and the moody, deciduous terrain of New England.
He loved rendering
clouds,Mrs. Sloane recalls. In fact, there are a whole group
of cloud images I call the the telephone paintings because
he created them while talking on the phone.
Sloane was a prolific
painter who lived life as if he had only 20 minutes left. He could often
complete a painting in a day. Visitors, except for his wife, were not
allowed in the studio while he worked. Many completed canvases went to
galleries while still wet. He wouldnt allow her to hang any of his
art in their homes. Part of the reason for this was that he didnt
want to look back at what he had done. He was always committed to looking
forward. His motto, Mrs. Sloane says, was tomorrow I have to do
better than today.
While Sloane lived
intensely, he liked the slower pace of life nearly two centuries ago and
felt the world of the 1800s represented the perfect balance of what life
should be like. He meticulously painted old stone walls by putting a bit
of gray next to a dab of darker paint, picking up a razor blade and scraping
it through both across the surface of the canvas. A lead pencil was used
to delineate the individual rocks carefully. When he painted shingles
on an old barn or house, he ran the pointed side of a razor blade through
the wet pigment.
I used to watch
him paint grass, Mrs. Sloane recalls. He would put three different
colors of green next to each other to portray each individual blade of
grass. He taught himself how to do this.
Sloane was mostly
self-taught, although he attended the Yale School of Fine Arts and the
Arts Students League. He believed that schools were places to learn the
fundamental principals of art. After mastering the basics, it was time
to evolve an individual style away from an academic environment and the
watchful eye of other artists. Eric felt there was no such thing
as talent, Mimi Sloane states. He felt that you just work
at your art.
In 1978 he became
friends with gallery owner Michael Wigley and entrusted him with one of
his finest exhibitions. In 1983 in Oklahoma City they presented a show
titled Portraits of America, containing 30 paintings, all
of which sold and many of which are in museums today.
Wigleys Santa
Fe gallery is the treasure house for the estate paintings today and he
and Mimi have worked hand in hand with the estate, establishing foundation
donations, museum support, and retrospective exhibits of the painters
and the authors art, writings, and artifact collections.
Sloanes hard
work paid off during his long career. His paintings are part of 54 permanent
museum collections throughout the world more than any other American artist.
In 1974 he was invited to show his work at the U.S.S.R. Academy of the
Arts in Moscow by Leonid Brezhnev. To this day he remains the only American
to receive this honor.
He established the
Hall of Weather at the American Museum of Natural History. His breathtaking
mural at the Smithsonians Air and Space Museum is one-half block
long and six stories high.
In 1987 the National
Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City held a retrospective exhibition of
Sloanes work, with more than 50 paintings. One of his last and the
only to be inscribed with his given initials, E.J.H., was acquired by
the museum for its permanent collection.
When Sloane wasnt
painting, he enjoyed writing. He was a prolific author who created more
than 50 books in 50 years.
Eric was a
very generous and trusting person, Mrs. Sloane says. He believed
in painting what was inside him. His entire career was a journey of finding
his own path.
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