Moviegoers are familiar with the art of Eyvind Earle, as he created the lush background for the 1959 Disney animated film, “Sleeping Beauty,” but he did much more. His seven decades of work will be explored in the retrospective, “Eyvind Earle: An Exhibit of a Disney Legend,” at Forest Lawn Museum in Glendale May 20-Jan. 1.
“We are excited to host the first major exhibition of the legendary Eyvind Earle’s work in Los Angeles in more than 25 years,” said Ben Sussman, vice president of community relations and media management at Forest Lawn Memorial Parks and Mortuaries. “Earle’s art is uniquely California-centric from the landscapes he made in Carmel to his work for Disney in Burbank on ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and more. His work further fuses our interest in local artists with our desire to present important fine art that resonates with our visitors of all ages and provides popular cultural references as well.”
“It’s a must-see; his work is breathtaking,” Forest Lawn Museum guest curator Joan Adan De Santis said. “People may have seen his serigraphs, but I don’t know how many have seen his original art — and it’s all original art.”
Adan De Santis adds that in Earle’s work, which has been collected by directors Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson among others, the colors are so vibrant and, along with his style, they make the viewer feel good.
Earle painted daily
Earle was a noted background artist for Walt Disney Studios and went on to found his own film animation company Eyvind Earle Productions Inc., which created a trailer for “West Side Story” and the logo trademark for Universal Pictures.
When he was 10 years old, the Southern California native was told by his father that he must read 50 pages of a book or paint a picture every day. He chose to do both and by age 14, Earle had his first one-man art show in France. He continued to make artwork daily and often worked on several paintings at the same time, going from one to another as each paint’s dried, Adan De Santis said.
Earle died in 2000 at the age of 84, leaving behind a wealth of oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, sketches, scratchboards and sculpture. More than 65 of these pieces will be displayed in “Eyvind Earle: An Exhibit of a Disney Legend,” many of them his moving landscapes.
“He has an interesting use of color that comes together well,” Adan De Santis said. “They’re bright. A lot of artists don’t use these colors together as well and he’s able to combine these colors in a wonderful way.”
Highlights in Earle’s show
Earle’s painting “Ancient Forest” captures the essence of filtered sunlight making its way to the forest floor through the vibrantly leaved clutch of trees. Adan De Santis likes this piece, as it reminds her of the type of work he did for “Sleeping Beauty.”
A trio of black, red and white horses prance in the middle of a batik-like blue background in “Three Noble Horses.”
“I love its movement. You can see the horses’ movement. It strikes me as a beautiful work of art,” Adan De Santis said. “Most of the paintings are large and very detailed so you’ll be able to look at them up close. Up close you can see all the fine detail.”
Although “Paradise” is not among Earle’s large works, Adan De Santis points it out as a good example of his eye for detail. It offers a view looking down on a series of rolling hills filled with various plant life. A tree branch boasting a cluster of tiny leaves seems to sway in the edge of the piece, adding to the mood and perspective.
In “Silent Meadow,” the sun casts long shadows across rows of green hills dotted with grazing cows and languid trees. The slopes continue in the distance, in shades of gray while whips of white fog complete the scene.
“I love the expanse, I like the shadowing and it feels free to me,” Adan De Santis said.
Each of Earle’s pieces take the viewer to a moment in time and evoke feelings of peace, happiness and a touch of magic.
“The passion is obviously there and it comes through in his paintings,” Adan De Santis said.
