Ancient Voices

In paintings inspired by the American Southwest, Hopewell artist Ritch Gaiti finds his hand guided by spirits.

By: Susan Van Dongen

"With many of my paintings that have Native Americans as subject matter, I’m trying to tell a story about a disappearing way of life," says Ritch Gaiti. Above, "Maricopa Girl."

   The cowboy boots are what give Ritch Gaiti away. The artist, who grew up in Brooklyn and currently lives in Hopewell, says his body may be in the East, but his spirit is in the Old West.
   "I don’t know, I guess I watched too many cowboy movies as a kid," he says with a chuckle. "I’ve always been interested in the West. There’s just something about the colors, the simplicity and the sense of expansiveness.
   "When I started painting, I was looking for subject matter. The more I painted the West, the more I read about it. The more I read, the more interested and empathetic I became with the culture, especially Native American history. With many of my paintings that have Native Americans as subject matter, I’m trying to tell a story about a disappearing way of life."
   Several dozen of Mr. Gaiti’s most evocative oil and mixed media paintings are on view at the RF Gallery (formerly the Rhinehart-Fischer Gallery) in Trenton from Feb. 25-April 26. The exhibit, titled Returning of the Spirits, is a visual journey through the history of the American West, celebrating the ways and rituals of Native Americans, the magnificent wild horses and buffalo that roamed the West and the natural beauty of the land.
   Mr. Gaiti, who is also a budding scriptwriter and filmmaker, taught himself how to paint. Employed very successfully for nearly 30 years in corporate systems and technology, he was getting fed up with the bureaucracy of the business world when he decided to pursue his dreams of painting and making movies.
   "I had been first vice president and senior director of advanced technology at Merrill Lynch," he says. "I decided it was time for a shift to the right side of the brain."
   After retiring, Mr. Gaiti studied briefly at the New York Academy of Film and launched Liquid Films, a small feature-film production company based in Mercer County. He enjoys writing and directing, but especially loves the creative control he feels wielding a paintbrush.

	"I get so engrossed in my paintings, I feel like I’m actually living the story on the canvas," says Mr. Gaiti. Above, "Caballos," and below, "Horse Crossing."

   Totally self-taught as a painter, Mr. Gaiti began creating abstracts about 15 years ago, but gradually evolved into the more realistic style he employs today. He only does very rough sketches to set the parameters of the painting, then creates the image while he works.
   "I get so engrossed in my paintings, I feel like I’m actually living the story on the canvas," says Mr. Gaiti, seated among his warmly colored works which grace the walls of the gallery’s newly renovated downstairs. "I’m in a zone when I’m doing a painting. When I’m very focused, I can probably complete a painting in 20 to 50 hours, but I never try to rush because I enjoy doing it so much. I almost hate to finish them. Even though I look forward to the next piece, there’s a kind of post-partum depression."
   Many of his portraits of Native Americans are inspired by the works of photographer Edward S. Curtis, who chronicled Indian life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One such painting is "Indian Princess," which portrays a noble woman with jet black braids who seems to gaze directly at the viewer, as though she is granting an audience.
   "There’s something about her that’s very exquisite," Mr. Gaiti says. "I had her hanging right over me in my studio, and it was like she was looking down on me while I painted. Of course, I had a picture of my wife on the other side, just to keep things in balance."
   Mr. Gaiti also has a special affinity for horses. He laughs when asked if he was around many equines in Brooklyn.
   "No, not at all," he says, "I just think they’re magnificent, beautiful animals, especially when they’re running free. I paint a lot of bison and wild horses, which are symbolic of this sense of freedom you feel out west. I’ve tried to paint them in a variety of moods and settings and capture different parts of their bodies."
   With "Five Horses," he even manages to make horses’ rear ends look elegant. The painting accents the subtle differences in the colors and textures of their coats and tails.
   "There’s also the fact that they were great companions to Native Americans," Mr. Gaiti says. "In one of my paintings called ‘Companion,’ an Indian brave on the plains is tending to his dying horse. There’s a sense of sadness — it really is like his best friend is dying. He’s out there in the middle of nowhere, but that’s not his concern. His concern is for his horse."

One of the most revered animals in Native American culture is the buffalo. The creatures, called "tatonka" by the Lakota Sioux, also appear frequently in Mr. Gaiti’s works. Above, "Prairie Bull."

   One of the most revered animals in Native American culture is the buffalo, herds of which once darkened the landscape. The creatures, called "tatonka" by the Lakota Sioux, also appear frequently in Mr. Gaiti’s works.
   With "Infinite Winter," the artist shows buffalo plowing through a blizzard on the rugged Western plains. The wooly head of the lead animal is caked with frost and ice, as it uses its massive legs to plow a path through the snow. The rest of the herd trails behind in single file. The line between the sky and the ground is obscured by swirling snow. The artist layers subtle shades of white to give the wintery landscape a realistic texture.
   Mr. Gaiti remarks that buffalo were known to bully their way through the drifts in search of less harsh terrain and his painting honors the animals’ determined spirit.
   Several of the paintings re-create the time of "the Elders" in Native American history. For example, Mr. Gaiti pays homage to cave paintings done by the Anasazi. In fact, two interpretations of ancient petroglyphs hang just inside the front door of the gallery.
   With "Emergence," Mr. Gaiti has painted a maize-colored double spiral against a ruddy background — representing the interior "travels" a Native American would take seeking spiritual awareness, then emerging back out again into the everyday world. A blood-red handprint floats above the geometric form. Mr. Gaiti remarks that the ruddy colors in the cave paintings were often mixed with real blood. The sister painting is titled "Thunderbird" and shows a half-human, half-avian deity, painted maize-yellow against the sunset red background.

	"Generations," above, is "symbolic of the journey the Native Americans have gone through, showing the various generations and the history that has disappeared," Mr. Gaiti says.

   He continues his modern interpretations of cave paintings with "Bird on Hand." The large, abstract oil features a medicine man figure standing in profile with a silhouetted bird on his upraised hand. Interestingly, if you back up or just glance at the painting, it almost looks like a sun-whitened buffalo skull.
   "About two years ago, my wife and I traveled to the Four Corners area, where New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah come together," Mr. Gaiti says. "We were especially fascinated by the ancient cave dwellings at a place in eastern Arizona called Canyon de Chelly. I had only seen photos of it before, so to go there and touch the spot where people lived 1,000 years ago was just awe inspiring."
   "The ‘White House’ is one of the most prominent and massive dwellings in the canyon," he says. "I’ve painted it many times, and I’ve found that it was as though my hand was being guided while I was trying to follow the contours and re-create the physical appearance of the rocks. I got lost in (painting) the rock formations. Something took over in a very strange way."
   One of the most stunning of Mr. Gaiti’s images is "Generations," which shows half a dozen solemn Native American men draped in muted blue blankets, fading in and out of focus, like a present-day generation shadowed by its grandfathers and great-grandfathers.
   "It’s symbolic of the journey the Native Americans have gone through, showing the various generations and the history that has disappeared," Mr. Gaiti says. "There’s also the idea of the ancestors always being there in spirit.
   "With this work — as well as many of my (Native American) paintings — I’ve tried to capture the essence of a time, place and culture that will never happen again. We’re glimpsing a moment of time, just like Edward Curtis did with his photography."
Returning to the Spirits, oil and mixed media paintings by Ritch Gaiti, is on view at the RF (Rhinehart-Fischer) Gallery, 46 W. Lafayette St., Trenton, Feb. 25-April 26. Reception: March 1, 6-9 p.m. Gallery hours: Tues.-Sat. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. For information, call (609) 695-0061. On the Web: www.rhinehart-fischer.com. Mr. Gaiti on the Web: www.gaiti.com