Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
"Robert Backston graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College, located in Berea, Ohio, in 1959. Backston received his M.A. from Kent State University and then worked for the Parma City School District in Ohio from 1959-97 as an art teacher. As an artist, he was influenced by former Purdue professor William McGill, watercolorist Frank N. Wilcox, and painter Elmer Ladislaw Novotny. The actual Garden of the actual Gods is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is a subject represented by many artists and for good reason. It is considered an ecotone or environment where many ecosystems blend together, which makes the garden so interesting. Many different plants and animals that normally would not appear together all converge at this point.
Backston’s Garden of the Gods wonderfully represents the lush landscape forming the garden. The image shows five tall rocky peaks and a broader mountain in the background. There are a few small trees and other shrubbery in front of the peaks. The artist used dark lines in the foreground and very subtle light lines in the background to indicate distance and atmospheric perspective. Backston’s varied use of line work makes for a dynamic composition, and one also sees his skillful use of negative space in the upper left part of the composition. It offers a resting point for the eye when exploring this beautiful landscape.
Stylistically, this print is very typical of Robert Backston and was done in the same manner as two other works of his in this exhibition, which also resemble works by other artists of his time. For example, Robert Peters made a lithograph similar to Backston’s Garden in 1947. Adolf Dehn also produced a lithograph of the same subject with a different perspective from Backston’s in 1949.
Bibliography: Kloefkorn 2005: 24-26; “Garden of the Gods.” Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 2010.; “Lake in the Garden of the Gods” David Rumsey Historical Map Collection | The Collection. Web. 03 Apr. 2011. <http:// www.davidrumsey.com/amica/amico1320416-47457.html>.; “Robert Peters - ‘’Garden of the Gods’’ - Lithograph.” Bid in Online Auctions - Live Auctioneers. Web accessed. Apr. 03, 2011. <http://www.liveauctioneers. com/item/2866998>.; “Garden of the Gods.” Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 2010.; Backston, Robert. Phone interview by Kellye Longgood, Apr. 4, 2011.
Submitted by Matthew Franklin and Rachel Schwartz"