Local Brattleboro artist Ray Arnault presents her work in the Brooks Memorial Library beginning May 1, 2015 at 224 Main Street in Brattleboro, Vermont. Her artistic photographs will be on view throughout the month of May in the ground floor Main Room of the library.
From the library’s balcony, Arnault’s photos of “Stone People” who pose immobilized and mute yet seemingly alive with a sense of purpose and direction, are some of today’s most unique visual displays from a local artist.
On the main floor you can see Arnault’s unusual expression of nature’s own reflections captured by her lens with ponderous, meditative abstract reality. She captures the throwing back of light from reflective surfaces that produces unabsorbed symmetrical images where one half rebounds with the mirror image of the other half.
Photographer Raye Arnault explains her technique to communicate what she sees – as she sees it: “At present, I am a photographer who values the simplicity of a shot. I compose my photos such that that result matches my vision, untouched by any further enhancement or manipulation. Although I don’t exclude any subject matter, I am especially passionate about water reflections and abstracts in nature.”
Email Raye Arnault at: r.arnault@aol.com or call (802) 779-3045
The Talented Arnault Family
Raye Arnault, a mother of three, is a former neighbor and longtime friend here in Brattleboro. I have enjoyed many private moments poring over her photographs for years. She also sketches pen and ink compositions, and is an art student locally.
Raye’s father, Dr. Donald Arnault, and her great-great grandfather, Gustav Muss-Arnolt, were also artists of some renown. Additionally her son, Ross Gronvold is a fast rising talented sought-after photographer in the Boston area.
See: Gustav Muss-Arnolt (American, 1858-1927)
http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/paintings/gustav-muss-arnolt-a-dachshund-in-a-5763597-details.aspx
Gustav Muss-Arnolt's depiction of sporting dogs
http://www.dogpainting.com/info_detail.cfm?arts_id=gma
Gustav Muss Arnolt was one of a small group of American painters, among them Percival Rosseau and Edmund Osthaus, who specialized in the depiction of sporting dogs. Born in the mid- to a late nineteenth century, these artists captured the excitement of dogs in the field, catering to a newly wealthy group of sportsmen who actively collected their work.
Muss-Arnolt was born in Germany, but emigrated to America when he was about thirty-two, lived and worked in New York City and Tuckahoe, NY, where he made his home from about 1894 until his death in 1927. In the early 1800’s he wrote and illustrated several articles for Harper’s Weekly, and between May of 1895 and December of 1909, he drew over 170 illustrations for The American Kennel Club Gazette. Between 1880 and 1894, Muss- Arnolt was also a frequent contributor to The National Academy of Design annual exhibitions. He also knew dogs, for he was an “all-rounder” judge, being licensed to judge all breeds in conformation dog shows. He was active in judging field trials, and he was on the board of directors of The American Kennel Club between 1906 and 1909.
Muss-Arnolt was very active in the dog world, not only as an artist, but also as a well-known dog show judge all over the United States, England and in his native Germany. He was on the Board of Directors of The American Kennel Club between 1906 and 1909. He was also active in the art world of New York City, exhibiting paintings at The National Academy of Design in 1880, 1881, 1886, 1887 and 1894.
In spite of the relatively little that is known about his life, his paintings remain as testament to his talent and love of dogs. His paintings depict the action and tension of dogs in the field, as well the precise conformation of champion show dogs. The dogs are faithfully rendered, their expression, anatomy, coat texture and color fully expressed in the finished painting. He is known for a rich, somber palette, often using umber tones to describe an autumn landscape. Although best known for his paintings of Setters and Pointers in the field, he also painted many different breeds.
Muss-Arnolt works are in many public and private collections, including The American Kennel Club, The AKC Museum of The Dog and The Genessee Country Sporting Museum.