Hajny’s Artwork on Display at Heckscher Museum
Senior Kathryn Hajny is one of Huntington High School graphic arts teacher Kasmira Mohanty’s prized pupils. The teenager has one of her most interesting pieces of art on display in the Long Island’s Best exhibit at the Heckscher Museum.
Ms. Hajny is an artist who packs a powerful punch with her work. At last Saturday night’s Long Island’s Best opening reception, several hundred people viewed the Huntington teenager’s piece and were impressed.
“My inspiration piece was ‘I, I Was Always Present’ by George Grosz,” Ms. Hajny said in her artist’s statement, which accompanies her work at the Heckscher Museum. “The piece caught my eye because it showed the destruction and turmoil he witnessed during World War II. The man on the horse being engulfed in flames and swept up in the chaos of war is profound because the war didn’t just destroy cities, it destroyed people. I used dramatic brush strokes and enriched warm hues to represent flames such as the ones found in Grozs’s piece. I wanted to convey the same emotion but an internal war rather than an external one.”
Mr. Grosz was a German artist who lived in Huntington from 1947 to 1959. He taught painting at the Huntington Art League. His famous 1926 painting, Eclipse of the Sun, was purchased by the Heckscher Museum in 1968 for $15,000. It has been appraised for $19 million. The artist died in Berlin on July 6, 1959. He was 65 years old.
Mr. Grosz’ 1942 painting, I, I Was Always Present, which was the inspiration for Ms. Hajny’s work that is now on display, is an oil on canvas, mounted on a panel. It measures 35-3/4 x 27-7/8 in. The painting was presented to the Heckscher Museum as a gift by Eva Ingersoll Gatling in 1997.
The Long Island’s Best exhibit runs through Sunday, April 27. The Heckscher Museum is open Wednesday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Town of Huntington residents are admitted free on Wednesdays after 2 p.m. and on Saturdays before 1 p.m. Proof of residency is required for free admission.
According to its website, The Heckscher Museum of Art was founded in 1920 by industrialist August Heckscher. The collection is devoted to 19th and 20th century European and American art. In addition, the Museum owns and maintains the Dove/Torr cottage, the home of famed American artist Arthur Dove and his artist-wife Helen Torr. Log on to www.heckscher.org or call 351-3250 for more information.