234 Offering to the River Spirit

SOLD
Winning Bid Undisclosed
This item SOLD at 2016 Apr 02 @ 14:33UTC-7 : PDT/MST
Category Art
Auction Currency USD
Start Price 100,000.00 USD
Estimated at 200,000.00 - 300,000.00 USD
Offering to the River Spirit
Artist: Grelle, MartinDate of Birth: b. 1954
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 48 x 60 inches
Signed: Signed lower right/CA and dated 2003
Verso:

Rivers, as anyone who has had any dealings with them knows, are fickle, tempestuous creatures. River gods, as might be expected, share this volatility. As such, they frequently require appeasement. And why not? Crossing a river is a tricky act, especially on horseback. If your horse takes a wrong step, wedges its hoof between two rocks, steps in a hole, you’ll be lucky to get away with a dunking. Rivers that seem placid on the surface churn underneath. Currents can sweep you away. Jagged rocks can break bones (I’m speaking here as a lifelong fly fisherman who has invoked more than one deity working his way from pool to pool, or from pool to shore.) So, while one warrior goes through the ritual, another watches him, making sure he does it right, while the third, the scientist in the trio, tries to read the river.