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Harry Bennett
Astoria Review: September 2005
Different Styles
Harry and Thomas Bennett Show at RiverSea Gallery
by Mike Strom
It's a kinda magic that happens... sometimes from the same root grow two entirely different branches... artists Harry Bennett and his son, New York artist Thomas Bennett, stopped by Galler 12 for an interview the day before Thomas headed back to his wife and home in Brooklyn, N.Y. Thomas asked his father to speak first... (rank has its priviledges), so Harry leaned back in my desk chair and unfolded his skills as a story teller.
As all life-long artists, the story started early, back in 1929 with a ten year old boy from South Salem, New York discovering drawing, then pastels, then classical technique as he grew into his teenage years and into manhood as World War II unfolded.
Drafted into the US army in 1941, Harry Bennett rose from a private to a major in the intelligence unit in New Guinea, leading patrols against the Japanese invaders. "They found out I had an innate ability to not get lost," he said, "so they kept promoting me and handing me maps and sending me out into the jungle. The military was good for me. It turned me around and made a man out of me."
Married in 1945, he and his wife Margeret just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, fresh out of the service, Harry was dying to draw so he headed to Chicago where he studied at the American Academy of Art for a year before deciding to head out to the biggest jungle of all, the asphalt jungle of Manhattan, where his art skills soon landed him jobs in advertising. "It was a given. If you are going to go... go to the top," he explained. So, with his wife's support, they moved the "Big Apple."
Commercial art was a natural for him and he fit right in. Harry started by designing a cover in egg tempera and oil glaze for one of the first gothic novels, Thunder on the Right, which was a thundering success. Once started there was no stopping him. He designed over 700 book covers where he refined his style and helped rear five children including Tom, the youngest, who was born in 1959.
"The egg tempera and oil glaze system I learned from studying the classics. I wanted to know how Ruebens achieved the startling skin tones he did, and I found out. It's technique and medium. I developed my own black oil through experimentation with linseed oil, red lead and wax." Harry explained.
in 1986 he came to Oregon, "I love this place. I live on the hill and never tire of painting the changes in the river." He and his wife own a house in Astoria and Harry sells his work in New E#ngland, Arizona, New York and in Astoria. His paintings, while highly sought after, have found a price range of two to three thousand dollars which allows him to live a comfortable lifestyle while leaving plenty of room for appreciation for collectors who are looking for dynamic art work at a good value.
"I like to paint in the open air or in my studio on 14th Street," Harry continued. As to what gives him the most pleasure in painting: "It's the human figure. I like to look into the model's eyes and see them comprehending what I'm doing.
Thomas Bennett, brought up in his father's studios in Connecticut, connected with art from day one. "I always wanted to be an artist, my oldest recollections are of time spent in the studio painting alongside my dad. I wanted to be him abd he taught me how to paint without imposing any style on me." Leaving home, Tom went to the University of Connecticut where he earned a BFA and learned how to think as a painter. Thomas' work, as exhibited at RiverSea side by side with his father's, is quite different. Harry's paintings seem to vibrate... and almost with a look of Degas, yet have an intriguing humor about them, an obvious remnant from his experience in painting book jackets, while Thomas' have a heavy classical feel, swift sure strokes and dynamic composition that loudly proclaims its solidity. "I like to indulge the inner child, walking that fine line between childish wonder and logical control," he said.
After college, and a short stint as a cab driver, Thomas decided not to go for his MFA so he went to Europe and settled in Spain where he found an apartment in Barcelona and set to painting. In Barcelona, he was able to rent an apartment for $85 a month just a few blocks from the beach and the cafes where he could relax with other artists. "That was before the Barcelona Olympics, I've heard everything has changed now... much more expensive," he explained.
While in Barcelona, he took part in group shows in the 1980s; but then, to take care of business, he returned to New York and moved into the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn before it became trendy and expensive. "I got in at the right time, before the prices skyrocketed," he said. Thomas married at 43 and works hald the year in the publishing industry doing illustrations for advertising... like father like son, sometimes... and shows his work in galleries in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the RiverSea Gallery in Astoria. "Though I'm strongly influenced by my classical training, I love pushing the medium around... motion is essential... I'm always thinking about how muscles and forms can almost connect."
And speaking of connections, Thomas and Harry provide a solid contact with the Big Apple and power of their work reflects a worldly view that has universal impact. So, while different in style, these two artists, father and son, show that creativity is not a formula but a trip into the ynknown. And in the world of art, artistic success is a combination of talent, perseverance and vision... and finally the willingness to share that vision with the world, whether one is in the Big Apple or the "Little Apple," art stands on its own.
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