Introduction.

I conceived The America Suite as a cohesive collection of fourteen original still-life paintings featuring portraits of the American Flag. All paintings are oil on canvas. These paintings are available only as an exclusive collection and will not be sold individually.

~ WW

Genesis.

In 2006 I began to notice that a number of seminal American painters had used the image of the American Flag in their landscape paintings… draped over a front porch railing, or fluttering from a flag pole, etc…and, of course, in historical paintings such as Washington Crossing the Delaware.  This observation led me to wonder how I would interpret this subject if I were to compose it in a painting.

I purchased some flags and soon realized that nylon flags didn’t work very well for my purposes; they were too silky smooth and wrinkle free. Cotton flags were the solution. Setting them up in an interior still-life and carefully adjusting the lighting to accentuate the folds, puckers and wrinkles proved to be visually intriguing to me. It also challenged me to draw upon my utmost concentration and sketching skills. My intention was to have the viewer experience the flag as a serious subject; beautiful in its design, powerful in its simplicity, and deeply symbolic.

Do we find the American Flag beautiful because of its physical attributes such as the design of the stars and stripes and colors, or because of something deeper; a spiritual connection to the patriotism that beats in our hearts; so intimately connected to the history of our forebearers? Or, perhaps it is both, as they become inseparable at some point.

Initially, I was not led to this subject out of a sense of patriotism.  I came to it as an academic challenge to myself after seeing the flag rendered in several ways by many artists; from Andrew and Jamie Wyeth to Peter Max, Leroy Niemann and Jasper Johns, to name a few.

My first flag painting sold on the same day it was displayed. The buyer had one condition: he wanted the flag that I had used as the model for his painting. I ordered another flag and challenged myself to do another painting to see if I could go deeper into the subject; improve on my own work, and I have been evolving this theme ever since.

Evolution.

Something very interesting began to happen as I progressed in this series of flag paintings: even as I brought the image to life, I myself began to become aware of a deep emotional stirring. Some fundamental emotional response to the image in front of me.

Very often, people would stand before my flag paintings and get emotionally choked up. Many became teary-eyed; men and women both. After a time, I came to understand this reaction. The American Flag, when portrayed thoughtfully, rendered in a work of art, casts a spell of its own over the viewer. I myself was not immune.

I think it’s true that we, as thinking-feeling human beings, create our own realities. In so far as this is true, everything we see becomes the proverbial ink blot of a Rorschach test. Some may look at the ink blot and see a butterfly while others may see a raven…or a boogieman. The American Flag is a very strong image all over the planet. It is an extraordinary ink blot! It is so deeply entrenched in the psyche of people the world over, that, upon seeing it, very few are left emotionally neutral. Some may honor the people that the American Flag represents, while others may want to annihilate them. Very strong emotional reactions brought about by the very same symbol. There is nothing neutral about it.

William Wolk

Sarasota, Florida 2019