SKU: p0632

Gone With the Wind -- Rhett by artist Raymond Kursar. Fourth issue in the series. Knowles China Company, 1981. Plate size approx 8.5 inches. Suggested Retail $100.00

He is an outspoken realist in a world
hedged by pretense, yet tormented by unexpected loyalties and emotions he cannot deny: he is Rhett Butler.

Gone With the Wind—in the epic novel, the landmark film, and now in this limited-edition series of collector's plates—is a turbulent love story played out against the background of the American Civil War and its aftermath. In this fourth issue of Knowles' Gone With the Wind series, Raymond Kursârs vivid portrait of Rhett is set in the library of the Butler home in Atlanta —the home that Rhett built to satisfy his willful Scarlett's every whim.

As Kursar paints Rhett he is at once relaxed, yet commanding, the complexity of his nature emphasized by the startling contrasts in color and detail that Kursar employs to distinguish him from the surrounding ostentation. Against the gilded highlights of Scarlett's extravagant decor. the calculated, sober browns and buffs Rhett wears bespeak his cool disdain of pretention.

In contrast to the rococo fireplace and elaborate candelabra, Kursar chooses Rhett's understated dress — the richly tailored frock coat, the silk cravat, the watch fob of enamelled gold, and even the half-smoked cigar, so casually held aside — to convey the suave independence of a man who controls his own destiny and justifies his actions to no one.

But because Kursar captures Rhett in a moment of unguarded reflection. a closer look
reveals an element of anguish in the clear, deep eyes, a slight sadness in the set of the mouth that indicates a momentary denial of his customary cynicism. Behind those guarded eyes. Kursar offers us a glimpse of a man uniquely vulnerable to loyalty, kindness and love. And when he finds those elusive ideals — in the crumbling Confederacy, in Melanie, and in his adored daughter Bonnie (but never, sadly, in Scarlett), the depth of his feeling is made all the more poignant by its quiet intensity.

As the immortal Clark Gable portrayed him, the attraction of Rhett Butler has never dimmed. Now, for the first time in the medium of collector's plates, Raymond Kursar has captured Rhett's character intact, bringing to vivid life one of the most fascinating romantic heroes of all time.