In 1965, artist Morris Graves established his home base, known as The Lake (now the Morris Graves Foundation), in an ancient 150-acre forest on the northern coast of California. The secluded home, studio, and garden provided him the ideal setting in which he could paint according to his idea of direct experience, that is, with no filters or enhancements. Graves wrote poetically of his reverence for the trees in a letter to his mother, Helen:
“Something about these great old mature giant trees makes my heart go out to them. I love them more than my fellow man. Or so I feel at times. They stand in the forest with such serenity and character, their lives so resolved – and the forest is so deep and in places almost impenetrable that many of these trees have never been seen by man. This gives them some deep quietude of their own…I lean with my arms outstretched against these great trees when I discover them, and my heart floods with tears of love for them.”
When one of those colossal sentinels fell due to natural causes, Graves recovered the wood to make a monumental table for one of his dear friends. We are honored to bring this table to market for the first time since its creation.
