The gallery paintings I have been doing this spring all came from my trip to NYC in the depth of the February winter.  It was soooo cold.

But when I entered the lobby of the Museum of Modern Art, everything was warm and cozy.  Just fine for a day of walking through the galleries and searching for that perfect moment.

I have spent the last month or so working on a new painting that came from this trip to MOMA in February.

Gallery 9 is always a crowd pleaser, and I love it too.

It is not just the spectacular Monet’s in the room (Agapanthus on the back wall, and Water Lilies stretching the entire length of the room).

It is like entering a sacred space…quiet and reflective.

But, in addition, the floor to ceiling window at the end of the room with its shadowed view of a New York City Street just seems to accent the serenity of the gallery.

The scene is stunning, and people enter with a reverence reserved for a very special place of contemplation and renewal.  It is hushed and dim in the room, no matter how many people drift along the edges, or finally settle on one of the long black benches to contemplate this tableaux.

Always someone goes over to the window to stare out at the street.  But soon returns to see Monet’s masterpieces. I was going through some of my art books this afternoon as I often do when contemplating new work, and came across this image in one of my David Hockney books. It’s an early picture of his, but it reminded me in some ways of these paintings I have been working on this year of art and art lovers.

In this piece I am working on now, I want the rhythm of the people moving through the room to be the dominant view, but the viewer to be very aware of a strong source of light coming from the outside world.

It is interesting to me that there is the same intense meditation whether looking out the window, or staring into the drifts of paint on canvas. I checked that the figures read dominantly in gray tones.

The strong diagonal of viewers brings you into the room to the various objects of interest and emphasizes the pattern of light and shadow on the floor, and on the two paintings.

 

People react with awe to the beauty. This is Gallery 9, Adagio.