B
Art is present whenever a work succeeds in elevating what it is or represents into a new configuration, a new world of its own in miniature, a new order of unity in tension.
—Hans-Georg Gadamer, The Relevance of the Beautiful
Bruce Herman is a painter based in Massachusetts whose aim, in his words, is to marry abstract art to the tradition that preceded it. Another priority that has defined his career is his resistance to the art world’s typical obsession with accomplishment. It is better, he has told me, to be a whole person than to be famous. He is adamant that as an artist you must put all that you love into all that you make.
Wisdom like that might be part of the reason Bruce decided to write the book Makers by Nature, out this month. Framed in epistolary fashion, it could potentially reroute younger artists and writers from a number of dead-ends. The posture of mentor is not new for Bruce, a professor at Gordon College. Bruce’s artistic ambition matured in a way that deliberately brought others along. An accomplished artist in his own right, trained by the great painter Philip Guston, Bruce is known for the way he has nurtured students as much as for the ways he has succeeded himself. It is a delight to see this pastoral style take the form of a book, one that gave me the chance to ask Bruce about his career more broadly as well.

Bruce Herman, “The Crowning” (from the series “Golgotha”). ©Bruce Herman, 1991. Pastel on paper, 45″ by 60″. Collection of James Shaeffer.
There has never been a singular art world. There are always multiple communities of artistic discourse at any point in history.
It’s not enough to make pretty pictures if you want to tell the truth or enshrine authentic goodness in a badly debased or broken world.
Younger painters today want to make meaningful art but find the vapid values of the contemporary scene dispiriting.

“Figure 2 Portrait of the Artist’s Father” (detail from the series “Ordinary Saints”). ©Bruce Herman, 2010. Oil on wood, 36″ by 55″. Courtesy of the artist.
As George MacDonald once said, “It is the face of things for which God cares most.”

Bruce Herman, “QU4RTETS No. 1 (Spring)” (from the series “QU4RTETS”). ©Bruce Herman, 2012. Oil on wood with gold and silver leaf, 97″ by 60″. Courtesy of the artist.
We’ve been given these gifts of parable, paradox, and poetry as a homing signal for the face of God.
Don’t worry about making a name for yourself—rather, concern yourself with making the work.

A tree transformed.

Finished applewood boxes.