Artists’ Tribute at Carlton Gallery Opens November 28

The late Jim Crompton coordinated his subject matter to correspond to music playing in his studio; he especially liked to paint jazz musicians. Image courtesy of Carlton Gallery

Beginning Saturday, November 28, Carlton Gallery’s studio will be filled with the work of three artists whose love of music influenced their paintings. The exhibit will be a tribute and recognition for a lifetime of work by Joe Barthet, the late Jim Crompton and the late David McCaig.

The exhibit will feature framed and unframed private collections of work representing various themes, including musicians, dancers, scenes of the Southwest, abstract and impressionistic landscapes. The display will run through December and is part of the final Avery Tour de Art event of 2009.

Barthet retired to Boone after two highly successful careers in teaching art and practicing psychotherapy and was encouraged by his wife to start painting again. He was born on the island of Malta to a known European artist, the Chev. Espirit Barthet.

Barthet’s oil paintings are a testament to his European art influences, as well as his evolution from impressionism to stylistic/expressionism. His human figures are abstracted to represent the emotion and movement of the subject painted. Barthet’s many paintings of musicians playing different instruments, along with his canvases depicting various styles of dancers with small heads, bulbous bodies and focused facial expressions, create a collage of movement with bright, engaging colors. Because of health issues, Barthet is no longer able to paint his oils on canvas.

The abstract paintings of the late McCaig project the awareness of the landscape—not a literal interpretation of it. To some his lanky trees are birches, but they could be any tree, as McCaig wanted an illusion of trees and not their specific identity.

McCaig began painting daily about 8:00 p.m. and continued until 2:00 a.m. with new age music playing in the background. He worked on more than one canvas at a time and was very involved with shapes and colors. He worked wet on wet and never preplanned by drawing first. If a painting was left standing in his studio too long, it would be changed whether or not it needed to be. Like many artists, McCaig felt his paintings were never fully completed.

The engaging oils on canvas by McCaig on exhibit at Carlton Gallery are to benefit his daughter, Ceria, who is studying art in California.

Crompton was a talented and versatile painter who enjoyed painting varied subject matter. He was a romanticist and individualist whose inspiration for his landscape paintings was the scenic vistas of the High Country. Crompton coordinated his subject matter to correspond to the music playing in his studio and especially liked to paint jazz musicians.

Born in New Jersey to professional musicians, Crompton’s art education was obtained from the Art Students League in New York City, where he was drafted into the Army, and his cartoons were published in Stars and Stripes. While serving in the Army in Europe, Crompton was able to study art of the great masters in France and Spain.

Crompton lived in Florida for many years where he taught art in many venues, including his own Crompton Art Academy. Crompton lived in the High Country for the last 16 years of his life, and his expressionistic oils on canvas at Carlton Gallery express his deep appreciation for the beauty and serenity of the area.

The Carlton Gallery is located 10 miles south of Boone and seven miles north of Linville in the Grandfather Community. Hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 828-963-4288 or click to www.carltonartgallery.com.