Claude Buck, Ninety-First Psalm,1934. Oil on panel, 30 x 36 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, gift of Leslie Buck.
In honor of Women's History Month Claude Buck’s painting Ninety-First Psalm is believed to be a portrait of the artist’s mother. Buck renders her sensitively, in muted tones, including the exquisite detail of each word of the Psalmic text that speaks of Christ as a refuge and a fortress: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1). The dark shading of the image may symbolically reflect this truth in the life of a faithful mother, while it also echoes earlier art historical precedents of profile portraits.