Submitted to publication in American Art Review magazine by Amanda Mobley Guenther
Karl J. Kuerner (1957- ) of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania has received the torch of the Brandywine Art Tradition from Andrew Wyeth, who described Kuerner’s painting as having a “strong honest quality that comes from deep within and touches the ordinary in a profound way.” Within the rich artistic heritage of the Brandywine River Valley, Kuerner has a pedigree of influential associations. From his mentors he has received encouragement to contribute his own story to a heritage that esteems artistic expression and farming.
Born to third generation farmers Karl and Margaret Kuerner, Karl’s artistic talent was recognized and nurtured at a very young age by the Wyeth family, both Andrew and his sister Carolyn. Kuerner grew up doing farm chores alongside painting artists, in a world of equal parts art and agriculture. From the age of seven he watched Andrew Wyeth paint some of his greatest works at the Kuerner farm. The family’s homestead was a major source of inspiration for more than 1,000 of Wyeth’s works of arts, and eventually more than 300 of Kuerner’s own works.
Kuerner professes that he ought not be considered one of the Wyeths. Other influences have brought out his own voice, often with subtle humor, in a style that emphasizes mood over method. An exhibition of Kuerner’s work, “The Art Spirit in Agrarian Art” explores the themes of Robert Henri’s famous art treatise The Art Spirit as interpreted and applied by Kuerner in his own art making processes.
Robert Henri (1865-1929), a founding member of the Ashcan School of American Realism was at the forefront of the New York art scene at the beginning of the twentieth century. On the verge of a one-hundred-year anniversary of publication of The Art Spirit (1923), Henri is still considered to be one of America’s finest art teachers. Henri is described as a dynamic teacher “with an extraordinary gift for verbal communication…and prophetic fire” that drew students to devotion.[i] While he gave instruction about technicalities of mixing color and applying paint, he interwove principles of life and art, giving emphasis to connection and creativity. His greatest influence on his hundreds and subsequently thousands of students has been to imbue the human subject with dignity.
When you think of a Henri painting, an image of a portrait likely comes to mind. Henri particularly enjoyed painting children because of their innocence, honesty and lack of self-consciousness. Here we find the bond to The Art Spirit for Kuerner. There is a two-fold connection with the teachings of Henri that Kuerner regularly refers to. One, the art spirit is that of dignity toward all living things and secondly that all humanity has the capacity for great creativity.
Henri is recorded saying in The Art Spirit, “I have no sympathy with the belief that art is the restricted province of those who paint, sculpt, make music and verse. I hope we will come to an understanding that the material used is only incidental, that there is artist in every man; and that to him the possibility of development and of expression and the happiness of creation is as much a right and as much a duty to himself, as to any of those who work in the especially ticketed ways.” In this creative capacity, Henri encourages boldness to make art about what you know most intimately or feel most deeply.
In Kuerner’s portraits, often the human figure is placed in the context of his or her surroundings. The homeplace is of utmost importance to Kuerner, as it is an essential component of his characters’ identities. In “Miss Thomas,” she stands stoic with folded hands. She appears resolute, yet with a sense of longing communicated by the motif of gazing out at the landscape. “The painting to me is one that can take you away into a world of thought,” recalled Kuerner. We infer about who she is, by the place she resides in the world of the painting.
Kuerner considers his approach “very straightforward with a technical skill that does not obscure or outweigh [his] emotional message.”[ii] The quiet feeling he brings to a composition conveys an overarching mood and emotion present in all his paintings. Kuerner could be credited with one of Henri’s gifts, to look at contemporary life “with a fresh, unprejudiced, and unacademic eye.”[iii]
A common subject for Kuerner in “Percheron at Chadds Ford,” seems to say that life will go on as it should. “Pennsylvania Farmer” and “Farmall” suggest that change is inevitable. Like a farmer, Kuerner welcomes and is comforted by seasonal changes that are often present themes in his work.
In a technique Kuerner describes as “abstractions disguised in realism,” the stacked hay appears to be hanging on to the wagon as the land spins on edge in “The Last Load of the Day.” The sun will rise over the hills in the morning and bails remain in the field waiting for another day’s work. Kuerner recalls, “My grandfather’s idea of a good time was to do three days work in one.”[iv] Kuerner has earned the badge of farmer and approaches his subject with an accuracy that comes from experience.
A sense of oneness he feels with his family farm is like the unity in spirit he feels with Robert Henri. “Henri’s style of teaching was an artist to artist approach,” said Kuerner in an interview, “never talking down to a student and always showing respect. We are all students no matter where we are in our artistic development.”[v]
Mentorship has been such an influential part of Kuerner’s art foundation that it is a natural connection to emotionally and intellectually link him to Henri. As pointed out in an article by Catherine Quillman for the exhibition’s catalog, Kuerner will be considered part of the last generation of artists who could claim Wyeth as a close artistic mentor. He is also one of thousands who have found guidance in the encouragement of Robert Henri.
As equally life shaping as his artistic friendships is the camaraderie Kuerner has experienced between art and farming. “My works are my life history with the knowledge that has been bestowed upon me through the people I’ve worked with,” said Kuerner. His paintings are autobiographical, but they tell a larger story; a story applicable to each individual’s sense of place, a place we feel at home, a place where we can be creative. “The Art Spirit of Agrarian Art” is one that celebrates a personal connection to each other and the land.
At the very close of Kuerner’s book, All in a Day’s Work, the following quote from The Art Spirit is featured: “There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual—become clairvoyant. We reach then into reality. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom.”
Citations-
[i] Watson, Forbes. Introduction to The Art Spirit. Originally published 1923. Copyright renewed 1958.
[ii] Interview with Kuerner. Oct. 23, 2019.
[iii] Watson.
[iv] Kuerner, Karl J. All in a Day’s Work. Cedar Tree Books, Ltd. 2007
[v] Interview with Kuerner. Oct. 23, 2019.