|
To at least one youngster who visited the Burroughs library this week, where William McCracken of Stratford, is doing a series of murals for the Children's room, the likeness of Pegasus, the winged horse of mythology, meant only one thing.
"Heigh-Ho Silver!" the child shouted.
The painting now being finished by the Stratford artist is the first mural in the Burroughs library and an outstanding addition to some very blank wall spaces. In it McCracken has covered the whole scope of adolescent literature from nursery anecdotes up through Sherlock Holmes.
The artist has wisely used brilliant colors to depict such dramatic reading experiences as are found in stories of fire-breathing dragons, seven-league boots, overgrown beanstalks, and glass slippers. It will be a problem child indeed who finds no stimulus for his imagination here and an over-practical adult who suffers, no nostalgic reminder.
The mural has been painted intentionally in a flat pattern, and avoids that pitfall into which so many muralists trip, of being an enlarged illustration, with emphasis on the third dimension.
Can't Stump Him
No question of authenticity can stump McCracken for before painting he read scores of children's books in order to check for accuracy. He studied ancient histories to learn the type of Greek helmet Jason might have worn. Neighbors came in handy, too, for Jack Oatberg, Stratford town treasurer minor authority on boats gave him helpful hints on tha type of ship Captain Kid must have manned.
Two casement windows separate the three sections of the mural and the slanting walls of these casements have been painted to give the panels the effect of a book being opened.
For Jack Horner
The first panel is devoted to mythology sod Mother Goose lore. The artist neatly settled the problem of what to do with Little Jack Horner by painting him in the corner, where be belongs, and seated at the foot of a hill down which Jack and Jill tumble.
The center panel, a seven by thirteen foot spread, illustrates such high spots
|
|
in early reading as King Richard, Captain Kid and Gulliver and his pigmies. In the background can be found Robin Hood, two turreted castles aloft in whipped-cream, clouds, and Alice in Wonderland chatting with the caterpillar. The keynote of the panel is a boy and a girl engrossed in a large volume in the foreground. Portrait of Micawber in velour topper and Rip Van Winkle being awaked from his twenty-year sleep complete the foreground of the picture.
The panel on the right appeals more to the older reader. Mark Twain is represented by Huckleberry Finn whitewashing a fence, and Conan Doyle by Sherlock Holmes with a bloodhound at his heels. A reproduction of "Andy and the Lion." by James Dougherty of Westport, overlooks the scene.
Models were seldom used by the artist, for it was necessary to depend on word pictures in most cases. However, an exception to this was the artist's own dog Buddy, who served as a model for the fictional "Poor Dog" of Mother Hubbard, who found the cupboard bare. A Christmas present of a Florida bay alligator, furnished McCracken with a fine model which would never recognize itself as the mural's ferocious dragon.
Canvassed Children
It took Mr. McCracken a year to complete his research work and painting In his studio. One of the greatest problems was to decide which were the most important stories in appeal to children, so great was his wealth of material. Young library borrowers have been his critics, and be has been guided by their suggestions and comments, many of them made in conversations on which he eavesdropped from another room.
The artist's services have been provided through federal funds, while the city has paid for the materials and incidental costs. He was graduated from Yale in 1931 with a degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts. His work is well known in this section, one of the best examples of it being the native mural in Stratford's town hall, in which the story of the landing of the first families in Sandy Hollow is depicted.
|