Rudolph Carl (RC) Gorman was born to the Navajo nation in Arizona and studied art for many years including winning a scholarship to Mexico. As he matured he developed his signature style, simplifying his subjects, painting with strong flowing lines and remarkable gradations of color. In particular, he focused on indigenous American women, swathing them in colorful blankets and shawls.

Our RC Gorman is entitled, Thunderstorm, and I was drawn to it for the atmosphere it evokes and the characteristic women clad in the chili pepper colors of the region. Later, we learned more of its story. The women are at a distance from the storm and may represent Gorman’s relatives waiting for their menfolk to return from World War ll, where Gorman’s father served as a code talker along with other Navajo men. (There codes remained unbroken). The lightning evident in the storm is a male symbol suggesting that the men are under threat far away. Gorman, a flamboyant character was recognized for his artistic talent during his lifetime and died a wealthy man in 2005.

The next day as we drove the six or so hours to visit family, I remembered another artist whose work I had admired, (with some self-doubt), when I grew up. His name is (Lawrence Stephen) LS Lowry, and although if you search hard enough there are some similarities to Gorman, they lived very contrasting lives.

LS Lowry is most recognized for his depictions of the industrial mill cities of Manchester and Salford in the UK, though his range was much broader. An only child who nowadays may be diagnosed with autism, he was reclusive.  His parents, especially his domineering mother tried to dissuade him from his artistic calling and disparaged his work. Nevertheless, he studied art for over ten years before determining to pursue his idiosyncratic style. The paintings appear to be naïve and primitive, (hence my reservations), but there are deeper complexities. Using a restricted palette, he represents the industrial landscape in an honest, if stark way.  Many of his renowned paintings include lots of people that were criticized as being out of scale and resembling matchstick men and women.  (There’s even a song; Matchstalk men and Matchstalk cats and dogs. Even in crowd scenes the figures are separate, painted against a white background with no shadows, representing Lowry’s own isolation and the harsh circumstances the workers endured. There’s a hint of caricature to many of Lowry’s figures and other times deft details that indicate pathos, struggle, endurance and even bathos. Perhaps, to his surprise and, after the death of his unswervingly disapproving and difficult mother, Lowry’s art was recognized with exhibitions in London and overseas. Notoriety forced him to give interviews and appear in documentaries, but he preferred the solitary life, painting at home in Hyde, Cheshire until his death in 1976.

My mind, dwelling on the smoky greys and blacks that barely predated my own childhood and adolescence, we drew up at our destination in south west Texas. One look at the yard and another artist sprang to mind.  Van Gogh and his iconic Sunflowers, (pictured here in our background silhouette).  What would he have painted had he caught a glimpse of the mad profusion of sunflowers here?