VAM galleries including this work:
Jacobs Collection at Georgetown College | Animal Farm || VAM Home

Brown’s Pony presents an abstracted, almost Cubist scene of a small child being led on a pony by an adult. As the title would suggest, the pony is the focus of the work, with its attention-grabbing golden coat and its position in the foreground of the painting. The generally dark, cool palette also serves to highlight the pony. The people seem to be secondary characters in the composition: They stand further in the background, and their faces appear obscured by shadows.

About the Artist

Loose brushwork, a distinctive palette, an uncanny sense of light and volume, and an absorbing composition are typical qualities of Anne Leone’s abstract paintings. One recent series uses water imagery to explore contemporary freedoms and issues such as the interdependence between humans and their environment. The work deals with the isolation of the individual, his or her reaction to the surroundings, and the struggle to survive. The figures are presented to the viewer from an unusual and rather unsettling position—below the surface of the water. By applying multiple layers of luminously colored paint in parallel strokes, Leone creates an impression that resembles fused layers of ice. The scenes projected cause viewers to feel caught between their role as bystanders and their role as potential deliverers of the figure in its struggle.

Leone earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Boston University in 1981 and her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Cincinnati in 1984. She began teaching in the Fine Arts Department at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 1987 and was the foundation director of Dartmouth’s College of Visual and Performing Arts from 1992 to 1999. She has mounted more than a dozen exhibitions in the past ten years; has participated in more than 40 invitational or juried shows around the country; and is represented by galleries in London, England; New York City; Lexington, KY; Richmond, VA; and Tiverton, RI. She and her husband, artist Daniel Ludwig, live and teach art in New England.

Classroom Ideas

Discussion: Do a visual inventory of this painting. What is the focal point? What techniques has Leone used to draw attention to it? Has she used a warm or cool palette? Does the palette affect the mood of the painting? Can you tell from what point of view the artist has painted this composition (above, below, eye-level with the horse)?

Activity: How would you describe Anne Leone’s style? Make a list of qualities you might try to incorporate into your work if you tried to create a painting in her style. Leone’s paintings often depict warm-weather activities, such as swimming or horseback riding. Using your favorite summer activity as a subject, create a composition in the style of Leone. Keep in mind the qualities you listed earlier!

Link

Learn more about Anne Leone and see new works at UMass Dartmouth’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, where she is a faculty member.
[www.umassd.edu/cvpa/faculty/anne_leone/bio.html]