Farm Auction I

This painting is a large scale portrait of attendees of a farm auction. It is painted in a loose, gestural style with visible brushwork, layered to create a highly realistic and lively representation of the subject. Tension is created by the gaze of the subjects toward the action outside of the frame of the painting, presumably the auctioneer. It places the focus instead on the farmers, with whom the real action lies. The men portrayed here represent a zeitgeist of rural life on the prairies. The farmers symbolize a way of life that is disappearing as urbanization takes its place.