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Walter Rane — Speaking without Talking
By
Steevun Lemon
A
friend came into my office this week. As his eyes wandered around
the room looking at the art on my walls, he said, “You have a
wonderful job.” I could not agree more. One of my favorite parts
of my job is visiting with artists. This past week I spent a pleasant
afternoon speaking with Walter Rane from his home in Oregon. Looking
at his work, one would expect a bold and slightly brash person.
But Walter is a wonderful living contradiction. Dramatic and larger-than-life
creations emerge from a soft spoken and admittedly shy creator.
Artist
Walter Rane
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You’ve
probably seen Walter’s work in a newly published book, By the
Hand of Mormon: Scenes from the Land of Promise or
viewed his paintings on display at the Church Museum of Art. He
has been compared to such masters as Rembrandt and Caravaggio.
Though he would shy away from such comparisons, the similarities
are unmistakable.
As
you read the words of this great artist, take a moment to look
at some of the works he has created. Take a visual tour through
the eyes of this fascinating painter, and see the world of spiritual
things as he envisions them.
Q: When did you know that you wanted to be an artist?
I
never decided I would be an artist. Like most kids, I was just
fascinated with art, but for me the fascination never left. There
weren’t any artists in my family so becoming an artist was not
a planned thing, my parents just saw my love and encouraged me
to follow it. I remember someone gave me a paint-by-numbers set.
I threw away the “numbers” and started using the paints. I was
nine years old and have been painting ever since.
Jehovah creates
Earth
Q: Which artist has influenced you the most?
When
I look for inspiration I look to the past and the old masters.
Rembrandt is the one I go to the most. Two years ago we rented
our house and moved to New York. I spent many days at the Met
looking at Rembrandt’s originals. Painting is not always visual.
His paintings have a reality to them that is not photographable.
When you look at the people you can almost see them breathing,
almost imagine they have feelings. They are not precise or photographic,
but they are real. That is what I want in my work.
Samuel and the Angel of the Lord
Q: Have you ever done anything outside of art?
Yes.
Seven years ago I tried teaching. I was not a good teacher so
now I just paint. [Laughter]
Five of
them were wise
Q: What is it about oil painting that attracts you?
I
enjoy the physical aspects of the paint. I enjoy the process sometimes
even more than the finished product. I like “squishing around”
the paint and how it reacts with the brush. It is just fun.
An
angel of the Lord came to Elijah
Q: Where did you study?
I
grew up in the sixties and went to college at Art Center College
of Design in Pasadena, although when I went there it was in LA.
At that time I wanted to be a fine artist and paint the human
figure. Unfortunately the only way to making a living as an artist
was in illustration, so I trained as an illustrator.
He is not here
Q: What teacher inspired you most?
Harry
Carmean was a tremendous draughtsman and painter. I am not sure
he ever developed much of a reputation; he was one of those people
who was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. He just wanted
to paint. His work was so beautiful that being around a real live
person, not someone who lived 400 years ago, that could paint
like he did was an inspiration.
 Good
Samaritan
Q: Where did you go after college?
I
knew that if I wasn’t going to be an illustrator then painting
would be a part-time hobby and I wanted to paint. So moved to
New York City in 1974 and became a free-lance artist. This was
before I was married and had a family so it was easy to make a
living. I lived with roommates, ate when I was hungry, slept when
I was tired, and painted the rest of the time.
Pen and ink drawing of the Good Samaritan
Q: How did you meet your wife?
We
met in New York at a Young Adult function. She was from Oregon,
which is how we ended up where we are today. She is unique; she
is one in a billion, supportive from the start. She puts up with
my odd hours and often encourages me to make decisions that are
more sound aesthetically than financially.
We
lived in Manhattan for the first eight years of our marriage,
but when our second son was born we moved to Newtown, Connecticut near Danbury. Back
then you needed to be close to New York because that is where
all the publishing was done. Much of the book and magazine work
was in the city. Since then, the business has scattered a bit.
Technology makes it possible to live anywhere and just send the
work to the publisher.
Christ being taken from the cross
Q: Is that why you left New York?
In
the mid eighties we just got bored of Connecticut. We rented out
our house and moved to Paris for a year. I served my mission in
France and loved the country. Our two sons were five and two and
we thought of this as a great adventure. At the time, the dollar
was strong and so it was like getting paid twice as much.
I
used the time to wander around. I painted on location and just
enjoyed painting for my own satisfaction. I have always found
that no matter what I have been doing professionally, it is good
to do work on the side. Over the years those are the paintings
that helped me develop my style. When you are working for clients
you are serving as someone else’s paintbrush. I don’t regret it;
it kept me learning. I still have quite a few of those Paris works.
Oh blessed Jesus
Q: Should we call that your Paris period?
[Laughter]
I don’t know, I guess so.
My parents suffered much
Q: Did anything from your Paris period ever make it
into print?
No.
On several occasions I showed art directors the Paris pieces and
they got excited. In fact, they sent me on location to Belgium
and England to do five book covers after seeing them. I have noticed
that when I do paintings for myself people often respond to them
better than they do my illustrations. Private works have inevitably
opened new doors.
All things denote there is a God
Q: How did you get into religious art?
Growing
up I admired the old masters like Rembrandt and Caravaggio who
painted spiritual subjects and I wanted to paint like them. On
my mission the Mission President wanted to do a traveling exhibit
of original works to appeal to the French people. I thought of
it as a Visitors Center in the back of a VW Bus. I spent a couple
of months in the mission home painting religious pieces and loved
it.
After
I graduated college I drove cross country and stopped in Salt
Lake City to show my work to the Church Magazines. I did a few
illustration jobs for them, but nothing long term. In the late
nineties I did a painting that ended up in the Winter Quarters
Visitors Center. I was not doing a lot of illustration at the
time and the idea of painting religious artwork was thrilling
for me. It took me back to being a kid and admiring the old masters.
When
I finished the commission I started other scriptural paintings,
not knowing where they would end up. One day the director of the
Church Museum was in Oregon at a family reunion. He came by and
I showed him the paintings I was doing on my own. He said the
Church was building the Conference Center and they might be interested
in them. I have been painting religious subjects ever since.
He had compassion
Q: How do you choose which subjects to paint?
I
am not good at picking what others want to see, so I just paint
what I am interested in. Many times I get halfway done with a
painting and step back to look at it. It hits me that no one is
going to buy this, but I finish it anyway [laughter].
Maybe
I have trouble because I pick subjects that are not always comforting
to people. I did a Gethsemane piece. You cannot paint it the way
it happened, it is too sacred. But I did try to express some things
with a more agonizing pose. No one seemed to respond to it. Then
I did painting of Cain killing Able…well, you get the idea.
Where is
thy brother?
Q: Where do you see LDS art going?
I
am not the right person to ask. I don’t feel like I am a part
of any kind of movement; I am just painting what I like. I can
see a large number of artists with tremendous talent. But from
my point of view I am just one guy in his studio trying to communicate
the things I am learning.
In remembrance
of me
Q: Looking back can you see the Lord’s hand in bringing
you to this point?
I
definitely feel my life has been guided; I think every step has
been part of this process. From becoming an illustrator to living
in New York, from the woman I married to living in Paris. Everything
has built and brought me to this point. I find it gratifying that
I am able to speak to people all over the world through art.
Christ and the
widow of Nain
Q: What do the next five years hold for Walter Rane?
I
hope that I spend the rest of my life painting scriptural paintings.
I am not much of a long-range planner. When I look back I can
see everything working as it should have, but I didn’t plan it
that way.
I,
Moroni
Q: What do you want to be remembered for in a hundred
years?
I
hope I have left a spiritual legacy with my own life so that generations
from now they will be strong in the Lord. As an artist, I hope
a few of my paintings hold up.
He anointed the eyes of the blind
man
Q: What do you mean “hold up?”
As
an artist you leave behind tangible things. Works that give a
glimpse into who you were. I hope a few of my paintings will hold
up well enough that in a few generations people will still find
inspiration in them. That is what I find so fulfilling, painting
is just my way of communicating to other people. I am just sharing
my feelings through the paint and the idea that I may be able
to speak even after I am gone is thrilling.
Jeremiah
Q: What are you working on now?
This
morning? I am working on a still life. I need something to renew
myself. I am painting something that no one has asked for and
having fun.
Brought their little children
Q: What is your next religious painting?
I
am working on Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Not
one did perish
Q: How is your piece different from others that have
been painted?
I
don’t know. I never think of my art as trying to be different
otherwise I would never do it. Most religious subjects have already
been painted, so if I thought I had to be different or, heaven
forbid, better, I would never pick up the brush. I just put down
my own feelings. I don’t know if it will be remarkable when I
finish.
What doest thou here, Elijah?
Q: What is your favorite painting?
I
entered one in a Church competition some years ago of my wife
and sons. I still enjoy looking at it. It reminds me how I felt
about them then and how I feel about them now; it makes me smile.
Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge
Q: Are there any up and coming artists in the Rane family?
I
have four sons. My two oldest are design students at college.
My youngest is thirteen and he seems the most interested in oil
painting. I would like him to be a painter. I am not a practical
person. If I was I would say don’t become an artist; it is a precarious
way of making a living. But so many joys have come to me through
art I have to ignore the practical aspects and tell him to follow
his heart. You do your best and everything will work out; at least
so far it has.
Walter
Rane audio on Meridian Part 1: Painting
Walter
Rane audio on Meridian Part 2: Book of Mormon Paintings
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