Collection Connection is a series of personal responses by Museum staff and volunteers to works in the Frye Art Museum’s collection.
Perry Acker (American, 1903–1989). Dreaming of Springtime, 1981. Oil on illustration board. 29 3/8 x 21 1/2 in. Gift of the artist, 1982.009. Photo Credit: Jueqian Fang.
What can be more appropriate for March 2021 than the painting Dreaming of Springtime? I wonder if Perry Acker is referring to dreaming of the coming spring, or dreaming of the spring in his youth? Whatever his intent, this work painted 40 years ago aptly speaks to our present anticipation of a new beginning.
We are immediately drawn to the dark center of the work where our eye is cast on an old man, leaning forward and down, with a crutch at his side. He and the bright red flowers beside him are the only non-geometric forms in the work. The blinds, the chairs, the floor of the room are all composed of horizontal and vertical lines, giving the work stability. Notice two vertical borders, that are echoed in the interior parallel window frames. Together with strong horizontals on the interior blinds, these structures form a support for the room and perhaps for the man himself, securing a solidity that contrasts with the man’s fragile and downcast state. From an adjacent space, Acker has us looking into a dark room at a figure engrossed in thought and taking no notice of our presence. Despite the glowing yellow light behind the man, he sits in darkness oblivious to his surroundings. Not even his proximity to roseate flowers cheers him.
Perry Acker communicates powerfully through color, form, and gesture, juxtaposing the old, dark, and depleted with the glow of regeneration. And finally, he points us to the exit, with a small, almost hidden green sign; green, the color of rebirth.
The title, Dreaming of Springtime, might suggest that the man is contemplating the years in his youth, with each spring leading to earth’s renewal, a time of increasing light. Is this old man, in the winter of his life, hopeful that the magic of spring will occur again?
In March 2021, I look ahead to renewal, to rebirth, to health, to life. The pandemic has taken its toll on so many. There are those who suffered and died from the virus. There are the children who long to be with others, jumping in a sandbox, eating ice cream with a friend, or being at school. Others have lost their jobs. Many have been isolated at home, not able to hug a friend. The winter of 2020-21 has been long and cold, depriving people of human contact, and, in some cases, of enough food or a way to pay the rent.
When I look at the man sitting in the dark, hunched over and waiting for spring, I think of all of humanity longing for the light that is just within reach, anticipating the coming spring. I see a clear directive to exit the darkness and to move forward, away from illness, racism, sexism, and untruths embodied in the dark, antiquated figure that is central to the painting. I believe that Acker is telling us to embrace the radiant spring light in all its manifestations.
Diana Caplow
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