Thunder into the Distance 1997

Eyvind Earle created “Thunder into the Distance” in the latter half of the 20th century, using his signature style. The monolith he depicts rises from the desert floor and straight into the sky, dwarfing the lone horse that grazes in its shadow. Earle became famous for his landscape paintings, which have roots in the American sublime tradition. The sublime in art has strong links to social history. The sublime presents nature as an awe-inspiring and often terrifying force, a vision that often reflects a culture's relationship to its environment and its place within it. Here, the sublime takes on a more modern twist, capturing the loneliness of the American West. Earle’s simplified forms can also be traced back to the art deco movement and its emphasis on streamlined, geometric shapes. To fully understand Earle's paintings, we need to consider the cultural context in which they were created. We can trace these shapes and their meanings back to the artist’s era through catalogues, advertisements and institutional records. By looking at these resources, we can better understand the cultural and historical meaning of Earle's work.