Earthly Delights
COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
Ann Getsinger’s Garden of Curiosity is on exhibit through November 19 at Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Leonhardt Galleries. More than 30 oil paintings, a mixed media triptych on paper of an invented animal, and a few sculptures featuring squirrel forms are on view. The New Marlborough artist often references the Berkshires in the backgrounds of her paintings, along with occasional ocean sites inspired from her roots on the coast of Maine. Getsinger chose the name The Garden of Curiosity for three reasons: “First, curiosity is my driving force in the studio. The paintings are a flow of consciousness, wonder, and exploration. Second, the title is a nod to Hieronymus Bosch and his painting The Garden of Earthly Delights, which I consider to be among the most astounding, timeless, and inspired creations ever made. And third, the exhibit will be at the Garden, a place which, for me, brings together all things I love—ideas around wildness and controlled wildness, a truly Berkshire place, education for all, and a mission statement specifically including natural history.” For decades, friends have given Getsinger things they think she might like to paint. In regards to this painting, titled Earthly, she received the large squash on the bottom right at a busy time, so rather than have it rot, she painted it on a huge, empty canvas. It was left for a year or two, until another friend gave Getsinger the two red squashes in the center. “I did the same thing, stuck them in right above the giant squash and put the canvas away for another year. About a year ago I pulled the painting out and was ready to let it grow and integrate by adjusting, staring, sleeping on it—just letting the pile grow grow. I let the dark cave in the center form, the stump appeared holding the soil, the rivulet of water drained out, etc., all unfolding, but not in a rush.” — Anastasia Stanmeyer