Linda Hartough

[Craig Sweet]

There's a ncie article on the golf course art of Linda Hartough in the Times today. Here's the link.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/arts/design/11bell.html

[Garland Bayley]

Her website is www.hartough.com

[Forrest Richardson]

Linda is among the best. I always have plenty of her cards on hand to send when an occasion arises. My favorites are:

Postage Stamp
Oakmont Clubhouse
The Old Course — 18

[Dan Kelly]

Just now read the article -- and, in the manner of Lieutenant Renault, am shocked (shocked, I tell you!) by the incompetence of this lede:

"THE ninth hole at the Winged Foot Golf Club in Westchester County, where the U.S. Open is to be played this week, is a par-5 with a 510-yard approach, which, in laymen's terms, means that it is humbling and long. Like many unnerving points on courses as old and prestigious as Winged Foot, the ninth hole has an air of celebrity about it, and last year it commanded the attention of Linda Hartough."

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Sorry guys, I find all Linda's paintings the same as looking at a photograph. If that is what you think as art, well have at it. I would much rather see something from David Scalletti who is much better at capturing a scene on it's truer medium. (film)

[Forrest Richardson]

That pretty much proves my point. If Tommy thinks something is better, then Linda must be really good to deserve such attention as a reply.

Actually, her studio at Hilton Head is full of some neat stuff. I am not wild about each and every one of her paintings...but there are many that have a great look and quality about them. Like I said, the Postage Stamp, Oakmont Clubhouse and The Old Course — 18...those are quite nice.

[Voytek Wilczak]

Borderline kitsch.

Good for her, though  (the $$$).

She's a much better businesswoman than she is an artist.

All IMVHO, of course.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Couldn't agree more! Well said!

[Forrest Richardson]

Thank you.

[Dan Kelly]

Could we put it this way?

She's somewhere on the continuum of modern artistry that has Picasso (or: name your own favorite) at one end and Thomas Kinkade ("Painter of Light" TM) at the other.

[Tim_Cronin]

Geez, tough crowd here.
I consider her the Norman Rockwell of golf artists; a precise illustrator rather than a mood influencer.
I couldn't follow Venus paint by numbers, but I know what I like, and I like her stuff.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Forrest,
Quite obviously I was commenting on Voytek's accurate opinion of Hartough, but since we are being so brutally honest here..... (Hurrumph, Hurrumph)  Dan Kelly's contribution of suggesting similarities between her and Thomas Kincade (and even in the business sense) it sounds as if she could be making millions doing lithographs by the thousands and selling them on The Home Shopping Network.

What ART!

Meanwhile, I know of an artist in Culver City who is literally putting his heart and soul into each and every painting and because it doesn't have the realism which actually makes people have to think......and look, God forbid if people actually had to understand what art was really about. Hartough's paintings just simply stroke the heart strings in what quick passing by! "Boy that's nice!" and 30 seconds later you've forgotten you even came across it.

Meanwhile, I keep thinking of how Mike Miller has captured the sand in his art of Sand Hills. His deft touch of a violent sky in his  #10th at Winged Foot. The raw sandy barrens of a new born Cypress Point Club.

And frankly, Hartough's illustrations are just like a Fazio course. All dressed-up with no place to go/It'll do for now but don't think of it as anything that is going to be ground-breaking. At least in the realm of GREATNESS vs. mediocrity.

Speaking of which, where was my Xmas card this year?

[Dan Kelly]

...Dan Kelly's contribution of suggesting similarities between her and Thomas Kincade...

Just to clarify:

I wasn't suggesting similarities between Hartough and Kinkade.

I was merely suggesting that she's neither a genius such as Picasso nor a hack such as Kinkade.

If I were going to suggest similarities between Hartough and anyone (artistically and commercially), I'd suggest similarities between her and the whole group of hyper-realistic Wildlife artists, who produce pleasing but unchallenging tableaux. It's feel-good, decorative art, in both cases -- and nothing wrong with that! Not my cup of tea, in either case -- and nothing wrong with that, either!

Surely there's a place in this big old world for art (including golf courses) designed to make a person feel good, without changing his or her life in any fundamental way.

I hasten to note that I am not an art critic; nor do I play one at the newspaper.

[Forrest Richardson]

Thank you.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Forrest,
Someone in the industry who shall remain nameless sent this to me this morning when they saw this thread and the go-back between you and I.

Linda Hartough = the golf course aesthetics of Tom Fazio, the taste and marketing acumen of Martha Stewart, the schmaltz of Montovani and the artistry and additional marketing skills of Thomas Kinkade.

Does this mean I'm off the Christmas Card list? (Oh MaGoo, you've done it again!!!!!!)

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Gee... I had a very nice conversation with her yesterday at the merchandise tent at Winged Foot and even bought her US Open calendar to add to my collection.

[Joe Hancock]

Steve S.

Thanks for actually pointing out to us that this is a real person we're talking about here. It's someone's mom, sister, wife, aunt....

I bet she is a devoted artist who puts out the stuff she is passionate about. She makes a living at it too. That isn't too far removed from what architects, shapers, etc. get to do for money.

I wonder how many of the critics have the testicular fortitude ( and lack of couth) to go into that same tent you did and personally tell this woman what they think of her work.

I don't see anything wrong with criticism. When it gets mean and nasty is where a line gets crossed.

I have this nagging feeling I shouldn't hit the "post" button, but here goes...

Joe

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Joe

I told her that I enjoyed her work and we talked Hilton Head golf and about some people I know in the area. She was responsive and engaging. I never knew that there was "anti-Hartough" element out there. Go figure.

Steve

[Dan Kelly]

Joe

I told her that I enjoyed her work and we talked Hilton Head golf and about some people I know in the area. She was responsive and engaging. I never knew that there was "anti-Hartough" element out there. Go figure.

Steve

Steve --

I've gone and figured, and here's what I think:

I think there isn't any "anti-Hartough" element out here.

Dan

[Forrest Richardson]

Thank you.

[Garland Bayley]

You know that DaVinci guy really screwed up by accurately capturing that Mona babe! If it weren't for that quirky smile giving the mood to the painting, I am sure it would have gone in the trash!
 

[Dan Kelly]

Thank you.

You're welcome.

[MikeJones]

Art is an even more subjective topic than GCA. Personally I think her paintings are superb. So are Mike Millers and so are Graham Baxters.................

The styles of these artists are completely different, so how someone can compare them and say that one is better than the other is beyond me.

[Pete Lavallee]

As an owner of not one but three of Linda's painting, I now realize just how shallow I really am. Of coarse after the thrashing she's received here it'll be futile to put them up on E-bay now .

I first met her in the Old Troon Antique Shop when attending the British Open in 1989, the one where Calc won the three man playoff with Norman and Grady. My lovely wife and I spent all of the last day behind the tee of the Postage Stamp, watching every player go through. It was the only bogey of the day for Norman; had he parred it he'de have won by a shot. We purchased her "photografic rendering" and she was kind enough to personalize it for us. I wanted to remember what the hole loked like; how it felt is easily registered inthe heart. It's a purchase I've never regretted. Her painting genreally have more life than a snap shot; perhaps her lack of personal golf experience doesn't allow her to capture the true feeling of the game; something that I really haven't seen by any other artist either.

[Tommy_Naccarato]

Pete,
Like I said to Huckaby earlier, Surrender is a good thing!

Now sell those photographs by Hartough and I'll put you in touch with some really amazing artists who deserve far more recognition and your benefitters will love you for it 80 years from now when they are worth a fortune. Hartough's in the meantime will be still selling at the same price, and in the same store. You'll be able to buy more with what you sell the Hartough pieces for, proving that there are a lot of ignoramuses out there!