Vagabondia
Artist
Duncan Hannah
Date1987
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 56 x 80 in. (142.2 x 203.2 cm)
ClassificationsContemporary art
Credit LineGift of the family of Joel B. Cooper, in memory of Mary and Dudley Cooper
Object number2002.26.7
Terms
- Man
- farm houses
- Landscapes
- Green
- Dark Green
- Brown
- Creme
- White
- Orange
- Blue
On View
Not on viewLabel TextDuncan Hannah American (b. 1952) Vagabondia, 1987 Oil on canvas In memory of Mary and Dudley Cooper from the family of Joel B. Cooper 2002.26.7 ~ As a boy, Duncan Hannah would plan imaginary trips with his parents on rainy afternoons to unseen places, using maps and train timetables to complete his itinerary. As an artist he has continued these imaginary travels, which he often renders in paint, as scenes from childhood, or of life in simpler times. Innocence, dreaminess, and displacement in time are all themes that are woven into his paintings and appear in Vagabondia, in which a young man walks down a long dirt road toward a white farmhouse. The mood of the painting is warm and inviting, as reflected in the late afternoon sunlight falling on the unspoiled landscape. The painting's title, Vagabondia, implies wanderlust. Has the young man just left his adolescent friends at the corner to arrive home in time for dinner? Is this a homecoming after many months? Or is it a spiritual journey of self-discovery the man has taken? Suspended in time, the story's ending remains elusive. While the artist captures a specific moment, he requires the viewer to complete the narrative.
