Date: Fri 20-Mar-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Milton-Bond-painter-Discovery

Full Text:

Milton Bond's Magnificent Work: "Refined Folk Art"

(with photos)

BY SHANNON HICKS

BRIDGEPORT -- It isn't difficult to figure out where the artist Milton Bond

gets much of the inspiration for his paintings. Mr Bond lives in Stratford on

a piece of property right on Long Island Sound, the same waterway upon which

generations of his family before him made their livelihood.

Mr Bond only has to look out the windows of his home to see the water that

shows up in so many of his works. Mr Bond is a painter of reverse images on

glass.

At the end of the road where Mr Bond lives is Stratford Marina, where boats of

all sizes are docked. The masts of some of the marina's largest yachts peek

out over the top of the marina's offices, like the masts of the majestic

clipper ships Mr Bond puts into a number of his paintings.

Paintings also include views of street scenes and country scenes. A selection

of Mr Bond's dynamic work is being featured until April 4 at The Discovery

Museum in Bridgeport in an exhibition entitled "Americana."

"The exhibition," wrote Discovery curator Ben Ortiz in the exhibition's

catalogue, "is a small glimpse into his world. I have tried to select works

that capture and celebrate what America means to him." Indeed, a very American

subject -- Old Glory -- also makes appearances in a large majority of Mr

Bond's works.

The Bridgeport museum held an opening reception for "Americana" on March 5,

the same day Mr Bond turned 80 years old. A huge group of friends, family and

admirers turned out to pay tribute and celebrate a milestone birthday with an

artist who still possesses a sharp eye, and an even sharper wit.

While his works are considered "folk art" by many, such a label is very

misleading. The details that show up in Mr Bond's works belie the naive,

rougher images often associated with the genre called folk art.

"I think my work can pass for folk art or refined art," Mr Bond said this week

in the living room of his home overlooking the Sound. "It's not really crude

like some of the stuff they call `folk art,' though. Some of those things can

look like children made them.

"I like to call it `refined folk art.' It doesn't bother me," he chuckled. "As

long as they sell, they can call it anything they like."

`A True Master Of His Craft'

A prolific painter, Mr Bond has produced over 1,500 paintings in 40 years, an

amazing feat made even more so considering the artist began his career in

middle age.

Milton Bond began painting just over 30 years ago. Primarily self-taught, he

used to paint as a hobby. Today painting is how Mr Bond makes his livelihood.

"My older sister was doing this [reverse painting on glass]," he recalled. "I

sort of liked what she was doing, but she was doing bowls of fruits and

flowers."

So at age 50, the lifelong Connecticut resident tried something new. The

result is an amazing collection of art that depicts America, its citizens and

their surroundings in an idealized world. The works are set in previous

decades, generally dating from the 1920s to 1940s.

Reverse painting on glass is a technique practiced by only a very few masters

today. "It's a form of art that is being revised," the artist says. "It was

done over 100 years ago, but then it lost its popularity."

Mr Bond was born in Bridgeport in 1918. He comes from a long line of New

England oystermen and sailors and is a proud descendant of Sir William Bond.

In the 1500s, Sir William built the then-largest ship afloat for Henry VIII, a

260-gun flagship named Great Harry . Mr Bond's ancestors were among the early

settlers of what is now Bridgeport and Stamford.

Mr Bond's father, Captain Ashabel Bond, owned the Bond & Currier Oyster

Company of Bridgeport, which included four commercial sailing and three steam

vessels. Mr Bond himself was owner and master of one of the last commercial

vessels on Long Island Sound.

Today the closed-in porch on his house overlooks the same waters his family

has sailed for generations. His love of the sea and a deep understanding of

the vessels that float upon its waters are reflected in many of his works. In

addition to the clipper and similar ships that are seen in many of his works,

a number also incorporate lighthouses or seaside communities.

Unlike many artists, Milton Bond has a good idea of what each work is going to

look like right from the start. With reverse painting on glass, the smallest

details show up first; the background is painted last.

Mr Bond took a walk through "Americana" before the exhibition's reception

began earlier this month. He was thrilled, he said, to see so many of his

pieces collected together again. "I enjoyed seeing them," he said this week.

"You very seldom get to see so many together at one time."

Many of the 24 works in the Discovery show are privately owned; three were

loaned from Gallerie Le Reviens of Westport, which represents Mr Bond; and

one, "New York Harbor, July 4, 1976," is in the museum's permanent collection.

One of the most extraordinary pieces in the exhibition is "Empire State

Building, 1931." Every one of the hundreds of tiny windows that are seen in

the Empire State Building, as well as the skyscrapers that surround the

building for blocks, were drawn onto the glass first, before any acrylic was

laid down. Mr Bond admitted that for such near-microscopic details to come

through clearly, rather than depend on a fine-pointed paintbrush he sometimes

relies on a fine-tipped pen to create the images on the glass.

"This way of painting, you get more detail," he pointed out. "You get more

clarity." When painting on glass, an artist is able to produce precise lines,

he explained. When working on canvas, once a viewer starts looking closely at

the canvas, there are always tiny bumps and lines in an image. "You never get

a perfectly straight line on a canvas," he pointed out.

"I like this one probably the best of all of them," Mr Bond said when he

approached the painting of the Empire State Building and surroundings. "It has

a relaxed feeling to it, even though something like that takes forever to

paint. All the detail! Those windows..."

"Empire State Building" commands attention. At 28 inches wide by 36 inches

high, the painting attracts long, thorough viewings. The first glance attracts

a viewer's attention; second and third return viewings are the result of

amazed wonder at the amount of steady concentration that went into the piece

on the artist's behalf.

At the base of the Empire State Building, the streets are populated with cars

of the era and people walking across the crosswalks.

"Many of these images I made up," he confessed during the opening. The views

evoke an America -- and a Connecticut -- of decades past. In "Americana,"

images include "Woman's High Wheel Bike Race, Central Park, 1885," "I Remember

Lake Compounce, 1926," "Little League Baseball Game: Lycoming Field,

Stratford" and "P.T. Barnum Parade."

They are charming and delightful. They are also spectacular and magnificent in

their depictions, something that has been noticed by fellow artists, art

lovers, and jurors and curators for years.

Among the visitors to the reception at the Discovery museum was Dorothy

Justinius. Mrs Justinius, a retired antiques dealer and show manager, had

heard of Mr Bond's work but had not previously seen examples of it.

"This stuff interests me," Mrs Justinius said while viewing "Empire State

Building."

"I'm used to seeing small, antique-style paintings. You usually hear of or see

reverse paintings much smaller, on the bottom of clocks, but nothing like

this!

"I had no idea how fine his work was, how tiny the details are!" she said.

"This is a breathtaking piece of work."

The Discovery exhibition is far from the first time Mr Bond's works have been

presented in a museum setting. His exhibition career began in the mid-1960s,

when he had his first exhibition at the Stonington Gallery. During that show

alone, Mr Bond sold 16 of his paintings.

The mayors of New Haven and Bridgeport have commissioned images from Mr Bond

to be used for their Christmas cards. He also created Chrysler chairman Lee

Iacocca's Christmas card in 1983, the year the country was celebrating the

Statue of Liberty's centennial. Mr Iacocca was chairman of the celebration

committee, and hand-picked Mr Bond to design his Christmas card.

Milton Bond's work is in the permanent collections of the Corning Museum of

Glass, Corning, N.Y.; New York State Historical Association; the President

Reagan Museum Collection; John Judkyn Memorial American Museum, Bath, England;

and The Grand Palais, Paris.

Art by Milton Bond has been displayed and purchased around the world. He has

had solo and group exhibitions, was presented with a special invitation to

become a Lifetime Member of the Henri Rousseau Society, and has been presented

with medals, awards and even the Key to the City of Bridgeport.

On his birthday earlier this month, he was presented with proclamations from

Joseph P. Ganim, the mayor of Bridgeport, and Governor John G. Rowland. Gov

Rowland's declaration praised Mr Bond as "a true master of his craft ...

undoubtedly one of the most successful reverse-glass painters of all time." It

also called Mr Bond "a true folk artist whose work will continue to be an

influence and inspiration to people everywhere."

Milton Bond accepted both of the framed honors humbly. He thanked those who

were at the museum that afternoon, including a group of friends who were in

the same class at Trumbull schools with Mr Bond. He thanked the museum for

presenting his work so beautifully, and then he had some birthday cake.

He continues to work in his studio at home. He lives comfortably in his home,

and paints when he can. He does not need awards to validate his talent. He

continues to paint because he enjoys it.

In his artist's statement for "Americana," Mr Bond wrote, "In 1965, ...I

decided to see what I could do with [this] form of art. I liked the results

with the detail and colors... People liked the results and it helped sell some

paintings.

"I have met many fine people with my artwork. I would say I have more of a

social life.

"It gives me a reason to keep on painting."