We Trust the Loyalty of Old Friends
Rob Rikoon
Created : 1979-1982
Donated : 1993
Medium : Painting/tempura
Dimensions: 6″x24″
Located: 3rd Floor,Rotunda
Rob A. Rikoon offers a panoramic view of New Mexico and Eastern Arizona in this series of egg tempera paintings. The two panels on the left depict the Hopi and Navajo Reservations: the panel on the extreme left depicts the dry desert that has been the home of the Hopi for centuries; the second panel from the extreme left moves from the Hopi to the Navajo Reservation. The coal from the mines on the reservation is transported to one of the world’s largest electric generation plants in Shiprock, New Mexico, in the third panel from the left. Smoke from the Four Corners Power Plant, as well as the ancient dwellings of the Anasazi at Chaco Canyon are clearly visible. Snow-covered Mount Taylor, a sacred preserve, is found on the right side of the third panel from the left.
The Rio Grande River winds its way down from the high peaks of Colorado from north to south in the third panel from the right. As the river runs south, it passes through Santa Fe, nestled in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and then runs through the center of Albuquerque. Rikoon’s exquisite detail provides features that specifically identify the city of Albuquerque: the tramway in the Sandia Mountains and the colorful hot air balloons of the annual International Balloon Festival. In the second panel to the right, the city continues with the Albuquerque International Airport, Kirtland Air Force Base, the University of New Mexico, and the Rio Grande River flowing south towards Texas. The painting to the extreme right depicts the wide open spaces and stark beauty that is characteristic of much of eastern New Mexico. The banks of the river are occasionally populated with small towns, like Santa Rosa and Fort Sumner.
Rikoon’s paintings speak directly to the viewer and provide a profound message of how the human species has had an enormous impact on nature but still remains small in comparison to nature’s mysterious power. His intricately layered paint surface, approximately twenty layers of handmade color, show “that even as we inhabit places of staggering beauty, we simultaneously create potentially devastating technologies which threaten our own peace of mind and the safety of other species.” Rikoon reminds us that “we all inhabit one interdependent environment. Only through cooperation can we hope to integrate the power of technology with the beauty of nature, thereby bringing hope to the future of our children and their children.”
