Awe and Humility and Joy: A Tribute to John Steinbeck Preview of and Exhibition

Awe and Humility and Joy:

A tribute to John Steinbeck Preview of an exhibition

Artist Ron Clavier describes his next major exhibition of oil paintings as a tribute to the author's exquisite visual power as well as his political philosophy. According to Clavier, "Steinbeck's provocative metaphoric use of the redwood forest expresses his passion for the towering ideals that define what is great about American society. He extends the metaphor to convey his contempt for those who, for their own selfish profit, would tear down those same ideals."

Quite a few years ago, when I was living in my little town on the coast of California a stranger came in and bought a small valley where the Sempervirens redwoods grew, some of them three hundred feet high. We used to walk among these trees, and the light colored as though the great glass of the Cathedral at Chartres had strained and sanctified the sunlight. The emotion we felt in this grove was one of awe and humility and joy; and then one day it was gone, slaughtered, and the sad wreckage of boughs and broken saplings left like nonsensical spoilage of the battle-ruined countryside. And I remember that after our rage there was sadness, and when we passed the man who had done this we looked away, because we were ashamed for him.¹

Clavier's twenty-six images are inspired by passages in which Steinbeck champions individuals, often disenfranchised, who strive to establish their place in the larger society. In search of his images, Clavier explored the Salinas Valley and environs in five separate trips, beginning in 2001. Some were easy to find; it was as if Steinbeck had provided a verbal map guiding him to the treasure:

"A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green."²

Other images needed more detective work, and Clavier spent many hours in the archives of the National Steinbeck Center (Salinas), and the Center For Steinbeck Studies of San José State University. He expresses his appreciation for the generous help and encouragement he received from Dr. Susan Shillinglaw, Herb Behrens, Neal Hotelling, and others.

Clavier says he believes that Steinbeck's greatness resides in his sense of social responsibility and integrity, and in the desire to help the reader. "Honesty, humanism, and humour have been guiding principles in my own life. I thank Steinbeck for his magnificent articulations of the ever present need for these qualities."