What, you might ask, is a "mudhead"? No, it's not a derogatory term for a dull person. In the world of art, a "mudhead" is a particular type of painting, one that shows faces and figures in a quasi-abstract, often colorful manner. The term originated with the great artist Charles Hawthorne, who founded the Cape School of Art in Provincetown, MA, right around 1900. Nowadays, vintage mudheads painted by Hawthorne's students are prized, and are highly collectible.
Hawthorne taught a revolutionary approach to painting the figure. He had his students paint from live models, in bright sunlight on the beach. The students were told to paint only the broad patterns of light and shadow, and not get bogged down in details. This approach allowed the painter to capture the color, value and form of people, without rendering their facial features. In many ways, it became the backbone of modern painting, emphasizing the fact that the impact of a painting comes from the big shapes, not fine details.
A mudhead is usually backlit by very bright light. With such strong backlighting, the heads and faces appear to be a fairly uniform, warm, muddy color. Thus the term "mudhead". To me, the charm of the mudhead is that fact that it is specific, despite also being anonymous. I love the way these paintings are built from abstract shapes of color. The big shapes are put down first, and although they may ultimately be refined somewhat, they are never detailed.
I'm illustrating this post with some vintage mudheads, and also an effort of my own. My painting is from a photo I took in Italy many years ago. The ladies on the park bench were very strongly backlit, and the features were not discernible. But I think you can tell a lot about them, nonetheless. I couldn't decide whether to call this one "Support Group" or "Support Hose". Cast your vote here!
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