Will Barnet : My Father’s House

February 17 — March 27, 2005

Will Barnet: My Father’s House is an exhibition curated by Katherine French following two years of collaboration with the artist. Dating from 1930 until the 1990’s, the works in the show reflect Barnet’s experience as the youngest son of a working class family on Boston’s North Shore. Beginning with drawings of his parents made when Barnet was a teenager, the exhibit also shows work created when as a successful mid-career artist Barnet returned home to visit his family in the house where he grew up. At the heart of the exhibition are four paintings created upon the death of his sisters in order “to extend the memory of my family as a work of art.”

Will Barnet’s career spans nearly eight decades, from his early work with the WPA, to retrospective exhibitions. His work appears in more than 200 museums, including the MFA in Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. But this small exhibition is perhaps the most personal statement.

Experts in cognitive development argue that first memories determine how we view the world and how we are able to express that vision. Barnet painted his family in order to grieve their passing, and through this process considers his own mortality, creating an art which will live on after his death.

Will Barnet: My Father’s House, a 28 page fully illustrated color catalog, including a forward by John Updike and curatorial essay by Katherine French, is available for sale at the Danforth Museum Shop.