Brother Jeremias Thaddeus Mysliwiec, C.S.C. (1915-2003)

Burning Main

paint on canvas

1985-2003

This painting depicts the burning of St. Edward’s University’s Main Building in 1903. About works such as “Burning Main” or “Nature’s Wrath, Storm at St. Edward’s, 1985” (which depicted the aftermath of a violent storm on campus), Brother Jeremias said congenitally, “I enjoy doing tragedies…Very few artists have portrayed natural disasters.”

“I paint what I see,” stated Brother Jeremias simply. Though he took classes at St. Edward’s, Brother Jeremias is considered self-taught. Fellow artist John Cobb reminisced, “... the odd thing about some artists is that there’s nothing you can really teach them because they have an intuitive sense of what they should be doing and what they shouldn’t do, and he remained loyal to his own perception.” Brother Jeremias’ instincts led to carefully planned, almost paint-by-number canvases that flattened and stretched objects and scenes into patchwork quilt-like patterns.

Brother Gerald Muller, C.S.C., “I Paint What I See: A Biography of Brother Jeremias Mysliwiec, CSC: 1915-2003 ” (Unpublished pamphlet).