Sabalauskas, Joseph
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Works in the New Deal Collection at GVCA by Joseph Sabalauskas:
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From just the other side of a split rail fence, we look downhill to a pasture and then patchwork of fields in the valley below. A stream cuts across diagonally and passes under a covered bridge; a horse and foal stand in the foreground, with sheep resting behind them. It’s a peaceful moment at dawn, a few pink clouds hovering nearby. Sabalauskas’ steep ramp of solarized colors ranges from golden pastures nearby to violent mountains in the distance. Note: this digital image is from a photograph taken during the 1990s; the painting has disappeared from the New Deal Gallery.
Golden light from low in the sky, at right, evokes a moment of gratitude for a year’s harvest—seemingly of corn shocks drying in the field. A person carrying a stick pause in front of one. Lush fields, green trees, and a gorgeous sky are shown to their best effect. The scene might pass for one of indigenous culture were it not for the rooflines of two houses in the distance, but the intent seems analogous.
Vivid colors are accentuated via the time of day at which this painting is set—either at sunrise or sunset—and by comparison to a pale blue sky. The titular “spring tree” probably is a cherry in bloom, but a taller one also seems to display blossoms. Sabalsuskas’ unusual portrait orientation emphasizes not only the trees’ verticality, but a pastoral scene in the foreground of grazing cattle. Several brushstrokes appear to take pleasure in color for its own sake.