Jeanette Smith describes the
painting Boogie Woogie by Paul Chidlaw (1900-1989), a native of Ohio, in Art of JAMA.
Chidlaw attended the Art Academy of
Cincinnati from 1919 to 1923 and in 1927 moved to Paris, which at that time was
the epicenter of experimentation in modern art.
He returned to the United States in
1935, and initially painted murals for the Works Progress Administration.
In Boogie Woogie, a cheerful
inundation of colors reminds the exuberance of the genre that became popular in
the late 1920 and visually suggests a torrent of bright streamers and confetti
drifting down from the winter sky at New Year’s celebrations. Although each and
every color is stimulating in itself, the work in aggregate is even more motivating
because of the effect of the contrasting hues and shapes.
Although Chidlaw’s eyesight was
diminishing in his late years, he retained his creativity and spirit of
artistic adventure and created paintings with colors combining as in a joyful
symphony.
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