Olaf Palm: A Life in Art

Olaf Palm: A Life in Art by Irene D. Thomas. Paperback edition. ISBN: 9780972569514.

This handsome, lavishly illustrated biography of West Coast artist Olaf Palm (1935-2000) collects for the first time a broad sample of his diverse works, illuminated by often witty excerpts from his journals and letters, plus the reminiscences of those who knew and loved him.Palm was a lucid chronicler of his times and not one to follow the mainstream art trends of the day. His influences were Old Masters like Rembrandt and Vermeer, successfully merged with American Realists like Wyeth, Homer, and Hopper plus Impressionists Monet and Van Gogh.Palms trademark softness of line and brilliance of color shine throughout his many subjects, which were largely determined by his lifes passions: back-to-the-lander, self-sufficient homesteader, counterculture raconteur, jazz musician, world traveler, lifelong reader, father, lover, friend, radical, and jolly curmudgeon. As the author summarizes, “Awakening the sense of wonder in the ordinary world of ordinary people and ordinary settings and ordinary occupations was Olaf Palms meditative labor.” This compelling reminiscence provides a moving introduction to this extraordinarily versatile and prolific artist, detailing the various periods of his artistic life, from his roots in the 1960s counterculture to the serene and bucolic settings brought on by his troubled final years, and highlighting his most popular series—that of artists, craftspeople and musicians at work. Also included are numerous examples of his exquisite paintings of Europe and other travels, his foray into the Western art of cowboys and Indians, and his intriguing works of fantasy and imagination.While Palm chose the Mendocino coast as home, his canvas was far larger, chronicling the preoccupations of the rural West and the back-to-the-land movement of the last third of his century. Included in the book is a verbal portrait of the artist as he painted, by his lifelong friend, novelist James D. Houston.