Wednesday, December 04, 2013

The Cave Girl

Cave Girl
Oil
16 X 20
Judy Vars

My “Cave Girl” was reproduced after Alaska’s most renowned artists, Sydney Mortimer Laurence. I was interested in studying his tonalist methods and the overall atmosphere of this painting. Sydney Lawrence has always been somewhat of an enigma with many stories and myths surrounding him. Gold Fever lured him to Alaska in 1903 and in 1912 he resumed painting. 

 “Cave Woman” is a diversion from Sydney’s usual style which is very large landscapes and one of the few paintings which feature the human figure as the main focus. Sydney was a romantic painter in the style of the late 19th century romantic period artists, he is best known for his use of light and the massive scale of his paintings needed to capture Mt. McKinley and the Alaskan landscape. This and many more of his original paintings are displayed at the Alaska Heritage Museum, inside the Wells Fargo Bank, 301 West Northern Lights Blvd, Anchorage, Alaska. The museum manager, Tom D. Bennett was kind enough to allow me to take photographs of this painting; he informed me this was in the home of the President of the Alaska Railroad for years before becoming part of the Rasmuson’s permanent collection and is worth an estimated $150,000.00.
I have been unable to locate any other pictures of this work, however prints were made.

The original painting is large 40 x 60 (approximately) and contained is a grand gold baroque frame with electric candle sconces on each side; this I imagine created a mysterious flickering effect on the painting when turned on. I am on the hunt for a frame for this when I find it I plan to make candle sconces on each side, I will then take a video of this for your viewing pleasure. Or better yet come to Alaska and see it for yourself.

1 comment:

Judy Vars said...

Judy, if this message gets through to you, I think you're the Judy who painted the Cave Girl after Laurence's Cave Woman?
Pat
Pat Erickson
If so, I wanted to correct the record. My grandfather received the painting directly from Sydney Laurence in 1920 and it hung in my grandmother's living room(s) until it was sold 50 years later to Edmund Rasmuson, so a straight lineage. No presidents of railroads. My grandfather was president of the first territorial legislature. I had to correct some misinformation at the museum, too.