In “Art and Understanding: Writer Janeter Langhart’s pick of art / books,” Langhart shares her encounter with Lincoln Walker, an outsider artist from Utah who inspired the PBS documentary “Close to the Edge: The Story of Outsider Art.” Through correspondences with Walker, Langhart introduces his life and infuses it with understanding, labeling his works as “grounded in time and place, and (emitting) haunting color and haunting geography.” Walker, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, created art through intense vignettes of landscape and still life. In an interview for the documentary, Walker expressed his love for the calmness of drawing, which allowed his thoughts to unfold. His farm gave him opportunities to experiment while managing his own obscurities. Through his own wits, he reflected on the environment, experiencing it both internally and materially. Ultimately, Langhart chose Walker’s “Emerald Lake” as her pick, describing it as “a particular beauty that comes from time’s having been allowed to touch it.” His work, depicting the lake mirrored by fireweed, captures the colors of the surrounding streams and valley, making it an intimate setting to observe.
In conclusion, Lincoln Walker’s art is portrayed as timely, intricate, and haunting, leading Langhart to choose his “Emerald Lake” piece. Walker balances the internal and external experiences of landscape, allowing the colors and environment to form a unique setting that visitors appreciate. Through his correspondence with Langhart, we can appreciate how an amateur’s engagement with art can elevate our understanding of an artist’s motivations and history, shaping our perceptions of their works to enrich them.
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