Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Summer 2008 - (Page 22)

PHILO LEVY “CHIEF” WILLEY (1888–1980) Philo Levi Willey was born in New England and worked at an unusually wide variety of jobs all across America before settling in as chief of security for the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board, a position he held for 32 years. It was after his retirement that he first picked up a paintbrush at the suggestion of his wife, Cecilia Seixas Willey, a well-regarded New Orleans artist in her own right. He was 83 years old. In the late 1960s, “Chief” Willey started sketching animals and landscapes in watercolor pencil, and after a year he took up painting with acrylics. In the mid-1970s Willey began selling his paintings in Jackson Square. His works immediately struck a chord with both the general public and collectors of American art. Willey’s life experiences influenced his paintings — from growing up on a farm in Falls Village, Connecticut, to a transient youth traveling from Canaan, Connecticut, to Cody, Wyoming. His imagination provided the circumstances of animals and humans interacting in vivid landscapes of blue sky, white clouds, and green grass. One extensive right: Winter Scene by Philo Levi “Chief” Willey, oil on masonite, 1976. gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Joseph Killeen series of paintings tells the story of Preacher Bear. In Winter Scene, a small painting in this series owned by The Historic New Orleans Collection, the night is dark and the moon is full. Preacher Bear is at the reins of his sleigh leaving the little red house, home of the Man in the Red Pants, another of Willey’s characters. A tiny table and chairs are seen through the window, behind a door with gold hinges. Owls and other birds of prey perch high in the evergreen trees, while rabbits, deer, and other animals inhabit the forest floor. The piece is marked with Willey’s simple signature and date, “ChiEF bottom: The Saints Go Marching In by James Thomas, oil on linen, 1977; gift of Zella Funck and James Thomas in memory of Malcolm Junkin 1976,” at the bottom right. Even though the piece depicts a scene from a time when life moved more slowly and a winter’s night could be spent cozily before the fire, Willey evokes a sense of menace with the predatory birds and the atmosphere of clear, stark cold. The complexity of emotion evident in Willey’s initially simplelooking work draws the viewer into his imaginary world and renders his paintings continually relevant. These three pieces, as well as the work of other contemporary self-taught artists, can be viewed by appointment at the Williams Research Center. —Rebecca Smith Assistant Curatorial Cataloguer 22 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES\Summer 2008 http://www.hnoc.org/

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Summer 2008

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Summer 2008 Contents Friends Editor’s Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities George Rodrigue’s Louisiana: Cajuns, Blue Dogs & Beyond Katrina The Historic New Orleans Collection After The Flood Faubourg Marigny: The Creole “Suburb” Preserving New Orleans Jazz, One Generation at a Time: Conversation & Music with Tom Sancton Louisiana Foodways Louisiana Architecture Baton Rouge Photographs, 1863-1910 Jazz Notes The Ogden Museum of Southern Art Louisiana Association of Museums Nature of the “Beast” Louisiana State Museum Bookstand Sound Advice Forum

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Summer 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.