Through Day and Night

Artist / Maker Richard Leet ((American, b. 1936))

Date1995

OriginUSA

MediumWatercolor on canvas

Dimensions56 x 36 in. (142.2 x 91.4 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineAn Iowa Art in State Buildings Project for Brenton Center for Agricultural Instruction and Technology Transfer. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberU95.58

Status

On view

Collections

Label TextThis painting presents day and night, a significant cycle in the processes of life and living; the driving forces of nature; a reverence to the fertile earth; and the constellation Bootes, the herdsman, as a symbol of vigilance and the nurturing spirit. The north wall painting is Through Day and Night. The two elements of our natural time cycle are present, with forceful forms flowing from one into the other just as in reality they do with each dawn and dusk. Each, of course, has special significance to the processes of life and living. The driving forces of nature, which have so much to do with agriculture, are apparent and the fertility of the earth will be symbolized by rich tones of green, brown and black. A unique feature in this painting is the inclusion of a star constellation from June's night sky. Bootes, the herdsman, will be ever present (appropriate in the College of Agriculture). His main star is Arcturus, the brightest in the Northern Hemisphere. Bootes can be regarded as one who helps find the way, cares for, and remains ever vigilant, watching over and looking after all that takes place in this Brenton Center. Arcturus, the bright star, can serve, as it has in the past, as a beacon, lighting the path to new places and things. Richard Leet (b. 1936) was born in Waterloo, Iowa. He attended the University of Northern Iowa in 1958 to receive his B.A. From the years 1958-1965 he was an art instructor for Oelwein Community Schools. He completed his graduate studies between the years 1961-1964 at the University of Iowa and received his M.A. at the University of Northern Iowa in 1965. In this same year he founded the Charles H. MacNider Museum in Mason City, Iowa.

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