"Adam Stinson," thank you for sharing the several excellent works of Brett J. Smith. I was unfamiliar with his work until I espied your posting. I like especially the southern plantation quail shooting paintings, and the pheasant and duck hunting oils. I also very much enjoyed the other artistic works posted. It seems to have gotten harder to find such truly fine quality representations of our American shooting sports, which is another reason I am appreciative of your and everyone's postings of preferred artistic works.
Although I avidly collect Victorian and Edwardian Era and even a few modern photographs depicting sporting events and participants, I am exceedingly camera-challenged, as some of my personally photographed entries on this site clearly attest to its correspondents. On the other hand, I also collect oil paintings in the same genre; and when I recently received a catalog from a premiere art gallery located in Fredericksburg, Texas, I was pleased to find a work (60 x 48 inches) by the renowned Wisconsin artist Daniel F. Gerhartz listed, titled "
The Journey from a Boy to a Man". Farm boy? Blue jeans- but is he toting an Iver Johnson Champion single shot 20 bore? Nope- some very fancy Under and Over, with a Germanic styled schnable forearm, a single trigger and gold inlaid on the sidelocks-Hummmn- Great theme however, the brush work reminds me a bit of Percival Rousseau's work. My favorite of all time is Robert Abbett's "Setter and Grouse" on page 53- GSJ Fall 1977 issue-
To me, this is an evocative painting, that upon reflection, many here can perhaps self-identify with, and which may also inspire an appreciative viewer to recall a certain transitional time of life and place. As well, further contemplation of the painting may even help inform us why we have later come to visit this particularly dedicated forum. The end-of-day setting, the contemplative boy, the prized cock pheasant, the working family spaniel, and even the trees seem familiar; or just perhaps these things are the way I would like to remember them. Each will see what he wants to see and remember.
Please enjoy Mr. Gerhartz's fine work below:
Best regards,
Edwardian
