![]() The subject matter and pose are quite similar, and I had some real trouble finding the painting on-line. AND Barnes appears to have used the same degree of "fish-eye lens" visual effect that Benton very well-known for (not sure that's the right technical term, but I think the term fits). WHICH, partially explains some of the weird way the piano is depicted in the Benton.ĪNYWAY, the piano in this Ernie Barnes painting ALSO looks very much like a tiny, 4-foot baby-grand. ![]() And here's a diagram of grand piano sizes, showing just how small a baby-grand is (and I think Benton's was even smaller (shorter, depth-wise) that that shown in this diagram. ![]() You can see a picture of Benton's actual 4-foot baby-grand in this photo. I never could quite wrap my head around the image of the piano in the Benton, until I visited his home and studio (in Kansas City, MO), and discovered that the piano in Benton's living room was a tiny, 4-foot baby-grand piano (barely a tiny 'humpback', as compared with 6-foot, 8-foot, or 10-foot grand pianos). And one of his paintings in the credits, of an African-American man seated at a piano, really stuck me as being 1) an absolutely amazing painting, and 2) possibly an homage(?) to a 1934 Thomas Hart Benton painting: The Sun Treader (Portrait of Carl Ruggles) Just saw the movie Southside With You this weekend (which is the fictionalized account of Michelle and Barrack Obama's very first date), which also featured the art of Ernie Barnes (1938-2009) early in the film (they visit a museum, showing Bernes' work), and also during the closing credits.
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