GAVIN ASMWORT
ANIMALS APPEAR AS PLANTS—DWELLERS OF THE SEA Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (1910-1983) Milwaukee 1962 Paint on corrugated cardboard 21 24" Blanchard-Hill Collection, gift of M. Anne Hill and Edward V. Blanchard Jr., 1998.10.58
he son of a sign painter and the stepson of a Sunday painter who believed in reincarnation and evolution, Eugene Von Bruenchenhein was exposed to creative trades and nonconformist ideas from an early age. Before devoting the second halfof his life to making art, Von Bruenchenhein worked as a florist and a baker. It was a fortunate foundation for the future artist, who eventually found his voice in a wide range ofexpressions: photography, painting, ceramics,sculpture, and poetry. A visionary in every sense of the word,Von Bruenchenhein illustrated his fears of modern war technology and his fascination with other worlds in fantastic, wet-on-wet apocalyptic paintings. He started working on his series of abstract canvases in the mid-1950s, and his subjects are often associated with the threat of nuclear explosions as well as underwater creatures, perhaps in Von Bruenchenhein's mind the inhabitants ofa post—nuclear war world. His fantastic imagery is enhanced by his out-of-this-world techniques: Von Bruenchenhein felt free to employ sticks, leaves,crumpled paper, his fingers, and brushes made from his wife's hair as styluses to apply the paint. He used a jarring combination of colors (secondary colors like green and orange) to great effect, enhancing an otherworldly feeling. —B.D.A.
T
SPRING 2005
FOLK ART
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