Artwork copyright Michael Brophy. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2016.

By Moonlight, 1996

Michael Brophy
American (born 1960)

Location: Tonasket Middle School, Tonasket

About the Artwork

By Moonlight exemplifies artist Michael Brophy's exploration of the human impact on the Northwest Landscape. Using rich, gestural detail Brophy depicts a logging scene with a "spar tree", which was used as a strong anchor point for cables used to move large logs. This piece contemplates a thought-provoking contradiction: in choosing the spar, men must recognize and seek out the strongest and healthiest tree, but doing so brings about the clear cutting of large areas of forest.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Tonasket School District.

About the Artist

Brophy studied at the University of Oregon in Eugene and at the Studio Arts College International in Florence, Italy. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, in 1985.