HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD |
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HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD |
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Painter of Opry Greats Almost a Southerner |
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New York artist Kenneth Hari, in Nashville to paint the portraits of the 1974 and 1975 recipients of the Grand Ole Opry's
George D. Hay Awards, seems so southern it's hard to believe he didn't grow up here.
He's friendly, cheerful, an easy conversationalist who's interested in people and really loves to talk. Even a new-met stranger finds small talk is no problem with him; he's traveled a lot, is well-read but not stuffy about it, and he knows everybody and what they've done and who their connections are. At 28 he's not only met an astonishing number of the world's great, but has painted their portraits. And, in some cases, the portrait commission didn't originate with the subjects themselves but grew out of Hari's having picked them out as being interested and then seeking out the opportunity to paint them. Interviewing this garrulously outgoing artist is like trying to gather autumn leaves when the whirlwind is spinning them out of the trees and all around an earthbound reporter who needs more than two hands and a fountain pen to capture the colorful harvest. Hari has done portrait of W.H. Auden, Katherine Ann Porter, Gene Kelly, Dustin Hoffman, Pablo Casals, Andres Segovia, Marcel Marceau, Salvador Dali, Kurt Vonnegut, James Dickey, Emilio Pucci, Bill Blass, Groucho Marx, Buckminster Fuller, Norman Rockwell, Ravi Shankar, Marianne Moore, Gore Vidal and Eve Arden, among others. His conversation is peppered with anecdotes about his famous subjects, gossipy but affectionate, and it is easy to see that almost anyone would feel relaxed with him. The portraits, both black and white pencil sketches and finished paintings, or at least photographs of them will be part of a book Hari has in the works on his experiences in art and the personalities he has painted. He doesn't know when he'll complete it because, as he says, "every time I paint a person, no matter who it is, from the greats like Casals to the average commission work, another chapter is being written." It is evident from Hari's conversation that he was deeply taken with Pablo Casals during the two years he spent traveling from New York to Vermont to paint the then 94-year-old artist whom he describes as a "true genius." "Painting Casals was truly an experience charged with emotion," Hari said. "Despite the great differences in our ages, we had the rapport of artist. Casals' eyes were warm, sensitive and still alert. He lived the type of life I hope to live." Hari painted 17 different portrait of Casals, most of which are still in his own possession. Some are on display at C.C. Price Gallery in New York and the Fogg Museum at Harvard. His art training was at Newark (N.J) School of Fine Arts and the Maryland Institute of Art in Baltimore. While going to school in Baltimore he also took several semesters of anatomy at Johns Hopkins, feeling that a portrait painter must understand the structure of the body if he is to be a good painter. As to the country music portraits to hang in the Opry House, he met WSM president Irving Waugh some two years ago and showed him photos of some of his work. He later came here with a more extensive portfolio for Waugh's consideration. The first two portraits to be completed were those of et Atkins and Hank Williams, the former done from life and the latter, of course, calling for considerable research that took Hari to Georgia and Alabama as well as Nashville to see photographs and drawings. Hari says of his first meeting with Chet that he thought it would be appropriate if he wore sandals and blue jeans so that Chet would feel at ease. Hari laughs at himself as he tells this, "Chet was in a hand-tailored Italian suit and Gucci shoes!" The George D. Hay Award was established by Waugh on March 16, 1974, when the new Grand Ole Opry House was dedicated and the first recipients named. The late Geogre D. Hay, "the solemn ole judge," was founder of the WSM Barn Dance in 1925; two years later in a fortuitous ad lib opening announcement he dubbed it the "Grand Ole Opry." Waugh said the award was created in Hay's honor "to recognize and pay special tribute to individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of country music." The awards are given each year on the anniversary of the dedication of the Opry House. The first recipients (1974) were Roy Acuff, "the king of country music" and the industry's first international star; Chet Atkins, "artist, developer of talent, music executive, a man who took country music to new arenas; "Owen Bradley, Nashville recording industry pioneer-developer of more than 200 country artist, often called "the father of Music Row"; the late Edwin M. Craig, founder of WSM, one-time chairman of the board of the national Life and Accident Insurance Co., "Who befriended country music throughtout his entire business life;" Jack Strapp , radio pioneer and developer of talent and a "giant" in the music publishing industry; Bill Monroe, "creator of his own art form, the father of Blue Grass Music;" and Cohen T. Williams, chairman of Martha Whites Foods Inc., "a man who put his company in the hands of country music many years ago and a pioneer in the use of country music in advertising." The 1975 George D. Hay award recipients were Uncle Dave Macon, who joined the Opry when he was 56 and became its first singing star; known as the "Dixie Dewdrop" he described himself as banjoist, songster, farmer, "thanking God for all his bountiful gifts in this beautiful world he has bestowed upon us;" The late Rod Brasfield, quick witted and keen at judging audiences, he said, "Be kind to your enemies. Remember you made 'em"; the late Hank Williams who learned basic country chords on guitar from an old black street singer, and went on to become country music's leading singer and songwriter; Minne Pearl, known all over the world; Ernest Tubb, like Hank Snow he was much influenced by Jimmie Rodgers in his style of singing; the "Texas Troubador" helped many young entertainers who were trying to get a start in the music business; and Hank Snow, the "Singing Ranger" who taught others to play guitar while he was taking lessons himself, "a big-hearted, courageous artist." Waugh said he had given much thought to the forn of recognition the award should take. "I wasn't happy with the idea of bronze plaques in the foyers of the Opry house. It would mean working through a sculptor and a foundry, and somehow a string of plaques didn't offer the life I wanted to have." It was his conviction that portrait paintings would be a better solution, that these would have to be reasonable likenesses, though not poster art, to please Opry-goers. "We have a difficult enough task in the hanging of the portraits," Waugh added, "because of the vertical oak paneling and the persimmon colors in the area. I wanted to avoid the corny and have something we can be proud of." Waugh said that Hari will do the first 14 portraits, though each one individually would have to meet with the Opry official's approval. It is hoped that the portraits will be completed this week so that they may be displayed during the Anniversary Celebration. Hari, who is represented in Nashville by Mrs. Washington Holley, has found Nashville much to his liking. |
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