The Beauty of Lotus - Charles C. Curran (1861-1942)

Lotus Lilies Charles Courtney Curran 1888

Artists should endeavor to express their ideas in terms easily understandable to others. The Old Masters built up a tradition that there is first of all such a thing as good composition; that good drawing is not necessarily slavish and stupid imitation of nature; that color and tone while being in general founded on the character of nature can be treated in a wide variety of manners; that a full understanding of the qualities and possibilities of the many mediums at the disposal of the artist is of utmost importance; that technical skill must be at the command of the artist and that an understanding of and sympathy with humanity must be his guide as to what beauty is.¹

~ from a letter by Curran to a "Mr. Frager," dated August 18, 1939.

I simply love this painting.  I saw it in Madrid with Ron and Beatriz and I was completely enchanted  as I observed  this particular painting, that rather than being an oil canvas art seemed  almost like a photograph.  Curran's portraying beauty through his sympathy with humanity is really inspiring.

¹James Lancel McElhinney, "Charles Courtney Curran", in American Arts Quarterly, Vol. 28, Number 1 (Winter 2011), Newington-Cropsey Cultur