Return of the Prodigal

Return of the Prodigal

egg tempera 24 x 24
James Butler

A third and last book, The Hills Beyond, was culled from the mountain of manuscripts left behind by Thomas Wolfe after his death. The novella, Return of the Prodigal, which is included in The Hills Beyond is a semi-autobiographical description of Wolfe's return to Asheville N.C. Although he died before it was published, Return of the Prodigal confirms the passion, energy and sensitivity that made Wolfe the most promising American writer of his generation.

Although the figures in my painting do not physically represent the characters in Wolfe's Return of the Prodigal, they do represent the emotive theme of Wolfe's novella. The young daughter is returning from a life without moral compass and is seeking redemption. The mother is offering unconditional love and forgiveness.

You Can't Go Home Again

You Can't Go Home Again

egg tempera 24 x 24
James Butler

The central conviction of the life of Thomas Wolfe rested upon the belief that loneliness, far from being a rare and curious phenomenon, was the central and inevitable fact of human existence. In You Can't Go Home Again, he wrote “You can't go back home to your family, back home to your childhood, back home to romantic love, back home to a young man's dreams of glory and of fame, back home to exile, to escape to Europe and some foreign land, back home to lyricism, to singing just for singing's sake, back home to aestheticism, to one's youthful idea of 'the artist' and the all-sufficiency of 'art' and 'beauty' and 'love,' back home to the ivory tower, back home to places in the country, to the cottage in Bermude, away from all the strife and conflict of the world, back home to the father you have lost and have been looking for, back home to someone who can help you, save you, ease the burden for you, back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time--back home to the escapes of Time and Memory.”

The empty red chair in my painting represents all that is lost forever when youth answers the siren's seductive song of distant exotic lands.  

Of Time and the River

Of Time and the River
egg tempera 24 x 24
James Butler

Both majestic and enduring, Thomas Wolfe's second novel was written with startling emotional intensity. Of Time and the River explores the universal truths about art and life, past and present.

In my painting the river captures the passing of time. The pensive nature of the woman depicts the creative process.

  

Look Homeward Angel

Look Homeward Angel
egg tempera 24 x 24
James Butler

Thomas Wolfe's first novel was an autobiographical attempt to capture the wanderlust and quest for a greater intellect which is inherent in our youth.

In my painting I depict a young woman and her daughter revisiting their Kansas family homestead. The young woman imagines a field of goldenrod which symbolizes her idealized memories of youth. The young girl's gaze at the viewer symbolizes the cynicism of a generation removed.