Sherman Beck USA, b. 1942
Family Gathering, 2017
Oil on canvas
32 x 42 in
81.3 x 106.7 cm
81.3 x 106.7 cm
8577
Further images
Part of a series that includes Beck’s close up image of a multi-generational family gathered around the trunk of a baobab tree, this portrait expands the view outward to capture...
Part of a series that includes Beck’s close up image of a multi-generational family gathered around the trunk of a baobab tree, this portrait expands the view outward to capture a vast, multi-millennial glimpse of ancestral connectivity. Figures donning the fashion trends of a multitude of time periods intermingle in a magical space that includes flora form around the world. Faint images of ghostly ancestral faces peek out from within the trunk of the large baobab tree in the center, while celestial light and color filters through the forest canopy above. For Beck, this family portrait is meant to imply more than many generations of a single family. It is also meant to suggest people’s kinship with the ecosystem. The baobab tree, if properly cared for and conserved, can share a bountiful symbiotic relationship with humans, providing dozens of life sustaining and economically valuable resources. Says Beck, “I try to suggest more than the instant, more than a snapshot in a painting.”