Blagden And The Wolf


Artist Allen Blagden settled down beside a wolf and fell in love.

That was in Greenwich, in 2008. The wolf was one of two traveling around the eastern United States on a mission: a wolf educational tour. Blagden was so smitten that he started drawing and painting the until recently endangered animals.

Now these images, in a show titled "Wolves and the Call of the Wild," are on view at the Ober Gallery in Kent.

Rocky Mountain gray wolves were first placed on the endangered species list in 1995, when few of the animals remained except in Alaska. Fifteen years later, in early March 2008, the second Bush administration removed them from the list and declared victory for protection and conservation. (How this decision was made is puzzling at best. The Department of the Interior estimated the wolf population of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming at only 1,500 when announcing victory. All three states have since allowed wolf hunting.) And Gov. Sarah Palin reintroduced wolf hunting from helicopters (talk about sporting) in Alaska.

For Blagden and the people who established Mission: Wolf, a 50-acre reserve 9,000 feet high in the southern Colorado

Rockies, these animals are misunderstood predators that help maintain ecological balance wherever they are allowed to exist in the wild. They do not attack humans, but do prey on livestock when especially hungry. It was humans who encroached on their homes, the wolf protectors say, not the other way around.

Now many people are frightened by the eyes of wolves. At least in fiction. But Blagden has written, "To look into the eyes of a wolf is to experience an unfathomable wisdom beyond any previous comprehension." And there are many pairs of eyes — knowing, vacant, warm, disinterested — in these pictures of thin, long-legged creatures. (Wolves have high, narrow chests — unlike dogs — so they can chew up 30 miles a day, running, at times, at up to 35 miles per hour.)

Blagden uses his signature water colors and graphite in most of the pieces, although there are a few oils. The graphite works are somber, studied, rather like memories of animals. The water colors seem more immediate, less ghostly. While not lovely in our conventional meaning — like show dogs and horses and cats — these animals achieve their own majesty and beauty in Blagden’s renderings.

 

 "Wolves and the Call of the Wild" is on view at the Ober Gallery, 14 Old Barn Road, in Kent, and runs through Jan. 15.Hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 860-927-5030.

 

Latest News

A scenic 32-mile loop through Litchfield County

Whenever I need to get a quick but scenic bicycle ride but don’t have time to organize a group ride that involves driving to a meeting point, I just turn right out of my driveway. That begins a 32-mile loop through some of the prettiest scenery in northern Litchfield County.

I ride south on Undermountain Road (Route 41 South) into Salisbury and turn right on Main Street (Route 44 West). If I’m meeting friends, we gather at the parking area on the west side of Salisbury Town Hall where parking is never a problem.

Keep ReadingShow less
Biking Ancramdale to Copake

This is a lovely ride that loops from Ancramdale north to Copake and back. At just over 23 miles and about 1,300 feet of elevation gain, it’s a perfect route for intermediate recreational riders and takes about two hours to complete. It’s entirely on quiet roads with little traffic, winding through rolling hills, open countryside, picturesque farms and several lakes.

Along the way, you’ll pass a couple of farmstands that are worth a quick visit. There is only one hill that might be described as steep, but it is quite short — probably less than a quarter-mile.

Keep ReadingShow less
Taking on Tanglewood

Aerial view of The Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass.

Provided

Now is the perfect time to plan ahead for symphonic music this summer at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Here are a few highlights from the classical programming.

Saturday, July 5: Shed Opening Night at 8 p.m. Andris Nelsons conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra as Daniil Trifonov plays piano in an All-Rachmaninoff program. The Piano Concerto No. 3 was completed in 1909 and was written specifically to be debuted in the composer’s American tour, at another time of unrest and upheaval in Russia. Trifonev is well-equipped to take on what is considered among the most technically difficult piano pieces. This program also includes Symphonic Dances, a work encapsulating many ideas and much nostalgia.

Keep ReadingShow less
James H. Fox

SHARON — James H. Fox, resident of Sharon, passed away on May 30, 2025, at Vassar Brothers Hospital.

Born in New York, New York, to Herbert Fox and Margaret Moser, James grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. He spent his summers in Gaylordsville, Connecticut, where he developed a deep connection to the community.

Keep ReadingShow less