ABSTRACT
The year 1929 was truly momentous for Raymond Jonson. His style and choice of subjects changed drastically and abruptly at the beginning of the year. The "series of specific inspirations" he refers to is probably the new and different subjects he suddenly embraced during this year. However, except for a few paintings, there is little evidence of hidden symbolism and meaning in these works. The paintings of 1929 to 1936 involve a spiritual understanding of and response to two-dimensional shapes, three-dimensional forms, and the spaces they occupy. This includes visualizing the rhythms found in all things, regardless of whether or not they are material and tangible. Many of Jonson's paintings of the 1920s and 1930s are similar to those of Arthur Dove. Of all the leading modernist painters in the United States in the early twentieth century, Dove is the one whose style and attitude toward nature is closest to Jonson's.
