Lakeshore in Morning Fog (1972/2000)

This photograph is in the “Golden Age” exhibition at Rohrer Fine Art, Laguna Beach, through May 31.

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Though Robert Glenn Ketchum’s work has received some museum attention, most recently at the Amon Carter in Texas, it isn’t universally appreciated in the art world. His color landscapes are too lush; he’s sometimes regarded as a latter-day Pictorialist or calendar artist. Still, he believes in his work unequivocally. He’s unapologetic, even defiant, in the face of any rejection. I’ve always admired that.

This photograph was made in 1972 at Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park. But the version you see here was created in 2000 in China, by hand embroidery. A sheer background was laid over the photographic print so that it could be copied with calligraphic brushes. Then traditional embroiderers stitched the image in fine thread on a silk polymer matrix. The only problem the reproduction presented was the rock in the foreground, because all rocks in Chinese embroidery have a prescribed form--called Taihu rocks--and new improvisations were required.

The result is that Ketchum’s already vibrant colors are even more intense and insistent. He’s done a number of these embroidered reproductions, and I believe this is what he likes about them. They draw upon a tradition that really knows how to appreciate color Pictorialism.