John Adams Spelman (1880-1941), “Reflections”

n.d. Oil on canvas, 28″ x 32″. Framed in custom mortise-and-tenon frame with carved side panels and carved cove liner, in Honduran mahogany with ebony plugs.

This painting was to hang over a Greene and Greene reproduction bed, which gave me the opportunity to tap into the wonderful Chinese vocabulary of cloud lifts and fine joinery explored by those outstanding Pasadena architects. The reflection theme, the surface of the water, suggested to me the side panels, which echo the construction of the headboard and give this piece a mural presence, which is very much in keeping with the Greene brothers ideal of unified design in architecture. The soft cloud-lifts also play well with the forms of the trees. The fall colors gave us reason to use Honduran mahogany favored for many Greene and Greene furnishings.

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