The Column Rule | Arthur H. Gunther III /essays since 1981

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

thecolumnrule Avatar

Published by

thecolumnrule
Retired 42-year newspaperman – photographer, editorialist, essayist, writer of 4,000+ columns, 3,000+ editorials, now a painter and continuing contributor at Facebook and thecolumnrule.com
Categories:

5 responses to “BEYOND THE OBVIOUS”

  1. Seumas Leiner Avatar
    Seumas Leiner

    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

    Like

    Reply
  2. Avatar
    Anonymous

    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

    Like

    Reply
  3. Avatar
    Anonymous

    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

    Like

    Reply
  4. art gunfher Avatar
    art gunfher

    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

    Like

    Reply
    1. thecolumnrule Avatar
      thecolumnrule

      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

      Like

      Reply

Leave a reply to thecolumnrule Cancel reply