My Own Places
Poems on John Constable
Will be published approx. on 31. May 2006
Book
Paperback/Softback
978-1-55238-170-0 (ISBN)
Description
"But I should paint my own places best. Painting is but another word for feeling. I associate my careless boyhood to all that lies on the banks of the Stour. They made me a painter..." October 23, 1821, John Constable to John Fisher
My Own Places is a collection of poems inspired by the works of British landscape painter John Constable (1776-1837). Constable's well-known reluctance to travel far from his home gave his paintings a distinctly-regional character that is reflected in the nostalgic and pastoral qualities of his work. Poet Don Kerr is also best known as a regionalist, who throughout his career has written on the history and culture of the prairie west.
The selections included here range from short, imagistic lyric poems to extended narratives, and act both as a biography of the artist and an exploration of his character and his work. Kerr includes references to Constable's influences, such as Gainsborough and the seventeenth-century Dutch landscape painters, as well as his patrons, friends, and contemporaries. Yet Kerr comes full circle, back to his own places, the western cities and plains that he knows so well. In Kerr's words, this is ""one regionalist discovering another"" - two different kinds of artists, two kindred spirits, who discovered their inspiration outside their own back doors.
My Own Places is a collection of poems inspired by the works of British landscape painter John Constable (1776-1837). Constable's well-known reluctance to travel far from his home gave his paintings a distinctly-regional character that is reflected in the nostalgic and pastoral qualities of his work. Poet Don Kerr is also best known as a regionalist, who throughout his career has written on the history and culture of the prairie west.
The selections included here range from short, imagistic lyric poems to extended narratives, and act both as a biography of the artist and an exploration of his character and his work. Kerr includes references to Constable's influences, such as Gainsborough and the seventeenth-century Dutch landscape painters, as well as his patrons, friends, and contemporaries. Yet Kerr comes full circle, back to his own places, the western cities and plains that he knows so well. In Kerr's words, this is ""one regionalist discovering another"" - two different kinds of artists, two kindred spirits, who discovered their inspiration outside their own back doors.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Calgary
Canada
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
8 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 175 mm
Width: 175 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
230 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-55238-170-0 (9781552381700)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Don Kerr is professor emeritus of English at the University of Saskatchewan and the poet laureate of Saskatchewan (2012). His strong sense of regionalism influences his interpretation of Victor Cicansky's work, in which he makes connections between the work and the artist's ethnic immigrant agrarian roots.
Content
The Man Who Stayed Home. A Kingdom of My Own. Masters. Constable Country. If You're Not in the Picture. Rudiments of the Painter's Art. Under Attack. Epilogue.