This Artist Has a Wise Way With Naivete

“Going to Deliver Milk” is the title Alexander Ross has given this early memory.

The painting has a childlike quality, and this is fitting. Outside a farmhouse, a small boy sits on the buckboard of a horse-drawn wagon, waiting as Grandfather mixes fresh cows’ milk with water. Grandmother is there too, carrying two pails from the cows.

Then there’s “Smile.”

This one, the artist explains, was inspired by an old photo of him on a pony on a Bronx sidewalk, beaming. In the photo, an arm reaches into the frame, steadying Alex on the photographer’s pony. This painting, completed about 65 years later, shows the happy scene along with more kids and parents waiting their turns.

“Mahoney’s Saloon” is not so happy.

There’s Alex again, about 6 years old and holding a small, metal mug outside the entrance to Mahoney’s. After his father deserted the family, after his mother, faced with raising six young children alone, suffered a nervous breakdown, authorities placed Alex and his siblings in foster homes. One of Alex’s chores was to fetch his foster father’s beer.

There are more portraits of the artist as a young boy, teenager and young man. There are some of him as an Army medic during World War II, as Beatrice’s beau on a Saturday night and as a father worried about his children. Inside the Alexander Ross exhibit at the Brand Library and Art Center in Glendale, there are 42 images in all, a chronicle of one man’s memories and musings and whimsy, all in the simple style that scholars call “primitive” or “naive.”

“This naive art is very popular right now. There’s a lot of interest in self-taught artists,” says Jill Conner, director of the Brand galleries. Ross’ paintings draw visitors close and usually leave them smiling. “There’s something very direct about it. It’s not threatening.”

Collectively, the paintings might be considered a portrait of the old man as an artist, for Alexander Ross, a 78-year-old North Hollywood resident, didn’t tap this talent until he was in his sixties. When a younger man, he’d made a living as a baby photographer and later by selling real estate. After retirement, he picked up the paintbrush for his own enjoyment and has produced works that have been sold by Sotheby’s of New York and hung in a museum in Nice, France.

He’s even had the thrill of controversy. A Judaic university exhibited Ross’ work, but excluded a depiction of boys skinny-dipping in a quarry pond because it was a tad too explicit.

Even now, the artist seems amused by his success. In its promotional literature, Sotheby’s tells this tale: “A picture frame that he purchased at a rummage sale was the catalyst. The frame was wonderful, but Ross could not find a picture that would fit . . . so he decided to paint one himself. . . . Alexander Ross painted a picture that would fit the frame and began a new career.”

Actually, Sotheby’s didn’t quite get it right. Yes, Alex once painted a picture to fit a frame, but that happened many years ago and he quickly put the brushes aside. The real story is better. He launched his current career with a practical joke.

It happened about 15 years ago. An old friend named Maurice had purchased an original by the American primitive artist Mike Falco. Maurice was so excited that he bought a poster of one of Falco’s paintings for Alex and Beatrice Ross.

Alex liked the poster but was also struck by a thought: “I can do that.” One night Maurice was coming over, so just for fun Alex got some paints and mimicked Falco’s style. Maurice was stunned by his friend’s talent. Alex says his friend’s encouragement inspired him to produce more paintings. Soon Alex became immersed in re-creations of his memories.

“I do it for enjoyment because I go back in time and relive these periods. . . . I’m not a fast painter. Maybe because it’s that I enjoy what I’m doing.”

Several paintings depict a happy life in a Jewish orphanage in Pleasantville, N.Y., which was a vast improvement over the foster homes, he says. And one of his personal favorites is “Saturday Night Dance,” depicting a swinging Manhattan ballroom in 1946 on the night he met his wife-to-be. In May, he and Beatrice will celebrate their 50th anniversary.

Ross has known his share of hardship. In August, the Rosses lost one of their three daughters after a three-year battle with cancer. Memory, he says, can be a wonderful filter, emphasizing the happier times. Those Bronx streets, he confesses, couldn’t have been as clean as he paints them.

His greatest satisfaction is the ability to touch people’s hearts. Native New Yorkers sometimes get misty when they encounter scenes that evoke deep recollections.

One recent gallery-goer found herself enchanted by “Liberation,” showing joyous French villagers welcoming Ross’ medical unit with flowers and wine. The story behind “Liberation” is one of happenstance. The unit was lost but didn’t know it. They drove into the town, unaware of the presence of German soldiers. Fortunately, the Germans were so dispirited and hungry, they had already surrendered to the villagers. When Allied armored units rolled in a few days later, the troops were stunned that a bunch of medics had captured so many POWs.

There is an innocence to the story and an innocence to the artwork.

“When people see my paintings for the first time, the first thing they say is, ‘Oh, my 6-year-old grandchild can do the same thing.’ ”

Ross says this with a laugh. Then he adds: “And it’s true. They can.”

Remembering the innocence, perhaps, is the secret.

Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Readers may write to Harris at the Times Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311. Please include a phone number.

There are 42 images in all, a chronicle of one man’s memories and musings and whimsy, all in the simple style that scholars call ‘primitive’ or ‘naive.’