BARN RAISING (1999), BY BEAU STAHL
ACQUIRED FROM THE ARTIST, ARTSPLOSURE 1999, RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, MAY 1999
BROWN PENCIL ON ROUGH PASTEL PAPER, 15 3/4" BY 12 1/4"
Beau specializes in pencil illustrations. Quite a few of his works feature the human figure, but this one really stood out when I saw it in his booth. This work is based on a black-and-white or sepiatone picture taken sometime during the 1920's in Pennsylvania. The original picture, according to Beau, shows eight or nine Amish farmers working on the frame of a barn that they are about to raise. Either by chance or by design, none of the farmers are looking up; they're all looking down at the frame while they work on it. This makes for an interesting image, as all you can really see of them is their traditional straw hats. Beau decided that four farmers was enough for this work, so he chose the four with the best "flow".

This work is really distinctive... I like its simplicity, as well as its realism.

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