BEYOND THE OBVIOUS

‘VERSO,’ gunther

April 8, 2019

By Arthur H. Gunther III

thecolumnrule.com

(also on Facebook)

     Perhaps this column should have been written for April Fool’s Day because the accompanying painting seems a joke. But it is not.

     The piece, titled “Verso,” Latin for reverse of a painting or document, looks like the other side of a framed painting. Yet it is really the painting itself, unframed, acrylic on a 24-inch-square wood panel.

     The idea was to be different, to spotlight what is hidden, even neglected, to show the strength, the character, the meaning, the substance of what we usually do not see.

     Everything — everyone — has value. Just have to look beyond the obvious. 

     The writer is a retired newspaperman. ahgunther@yahoo.com

5 thoughts on “BEYOND THE OBVIOUS

  1. Geeze Art….are you having trouble determining what is front and back..I suffered through two years of Stanton Callaghan’s Latin class at the ole NHS….long time ago but I thought “back” is ursus and “front” is ante…but then at my advanced age I could be “tactas memini cerebri”
    Oh yes, nice painting..

    Jim

  2. Hi, Jim,
    Tx. for comment. Your Latin is correct, but for the art world, museums regularly use “verso” for the back and “recto” for the front. I will correct to indicate this.

    ver·so
    /ˈvərsō/
    noun
    1.
    a left-hand page of an open book, or the back of a loose document.
    2.
    the reverse of something such as a coin or painting.

    FROM; Latin

  3. Tx., Jim, for comment.
    You are correct on your Latin. In the art world, “verso” means back or reverse of a painting and “recto” means front. I will correct column to be more exact.

    ver·so
    /ˈvərsō/
    noun
    1.
    a left-hand page of an open book, or the back of a loose document.
    2.
    the reverse of something such as a coin or painting.

    FROM: Latin

  4. Tx., Jim, for comment.
    You are correct on your Latin. In the art world, “verso” means back or reverse of a painting and “recto” means front. I will correct column to be more exact.

    ver·so
    /ˈvərsō/
    noun
    1.
    a left-hand page of an open book, or the back of a loose document.
    2.
    the reverse of something such as a coin or painting.

    FROM: Latin

    • Tx., Jim, for comment.
      You are correct on your Latin. In the art world, “verso” means back or reverse of a painting and “recto” means front. I will correct column to be more exact.

      ver·so
      /ˈvərsō/
      noun
      1.
      a left-hand page of an open book, or the back of a loose document.
      2.
      the reverse of something such as a coin or painting.

      FROM: Latin

Leave a Reply to thecolumnrule Cancel reply