Seeing Red

11 Tuesday Apr 2017

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Sometimes an image will stay with me for quite a long time and pop out years later in a painting. In the case of “Reds” (which I just finished this week) this image recalls a visit to MOMA in New York City in January of 2015. I had gone up to see the special Matisse Cut-Outs show. I was not allowed to photograph in the galleries for this particular show, but of course couldn’t resist a few photos of the happy art lovers waiting on line to get in.

But it certainly put me in the mood for the Matisse room of the regular MOMA collection, and “The Red Studio” has always been one of my favorites there.

The room was not as crowded as it sometimes is. Maybe the Matisse lovers were in the special cut-outs exhibit.

But when I saw these three young girls, all in shades of pink…they just reinforced Matisse’s monochromatic palette filling his canvas and pushing out from the edges.

Whenever I would re-visit my favorite reference files of photos from museum visits, I would stop and linger with this one. It’s been tacked to the wall in my studio off and on for the past two years.

The figures seemed to mimic the happy floating objects in Matisse’s studio.

I wanted to keep the loose joy of the master work without directly falling into its style. But, these three figures really are simply a perfect extension of the composition.

Reds are tough. And Matisse’s red is such a specific shade, which I actually felt I could never quite capture, although I layered it many times trying.

But the sense of vibrancy and movement is there, and extends into the surrounding room. How can anyone not be happy in the presence of a Matisse.

“Reds”, oil on linen, 30″ x 24″

Shared Impressions

18 Saturday Feb 2017

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Andy Goldsworthy, East Wing NGA, French Impressionism, Picasso, The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

I have spent many mornings exploring the newly renovated East Wing of the National Gallery of Art since it re-opened last fall. The old friend is still familiar, yet fresh and revitalized.

I almost always go alone to art museums. It gives me the opportunity to really emerge myself in the art, and pick the little corner I want to explore that day. But these three young women made it look like such fun to go with friends.

Tucked away to the left when you first come in the main entrance, there was a gorgeous exhibition from the museum’s French Impressionist collection.

These three women followed me through the collection, and exited to the main hall soon after I did.

Wedged between Andy Goldsworthy’s rock sculpture and the graphic detail of Madame Picasso next to the entrance (the original is inside!), the girls put their heads together and looked at their images on their phone.

I would love to think they had photographed images from the show, and were reliving the experience, but can’t know for sure. But Madame Picasso, looking over their shoulders, probably has a pretty good idea what they’re talking about.

Whatever the conversation, I loved the camaraderie in a truly wonderful setting. “Shared Impressions”, oil on linen, 24 x 36

Counterbalance

06 Monday Feb 2017

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Calder, East Wing of NGA, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

The entire East Wing of the National Gallery of Art finally re-opened this past fall after undergoing a huge renovation. Even this part of the main atrium, which had been open throughout the renovation, seemed fresh and new.

With Alexander Calder’s massive (920 lb) aluminum and steel mobile gently rotating overhead, the calm movement creates the perfect counterbalance to the busy world of Washington DC just outside the door.

The lone figure hurries across the bridge seemingly oblivious to the red and black wings circling overhead.

Rushing back to her office from lunch? Or just enjoying the spectacle of this panoramic open space.

“Counterbalance”, oil on linen, 24 x 36″

Life in Venice

14 Monday Nov 2016

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Italy, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice

On our summer trip to Venice, we were overwhelmed by the crowds of tourists pouring through the narrow passageways and squares. The canals were no better.

We finally found peace in The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, an oasis in a wild world. I observed two visitors who also found this retreat magnetic.

This museum was the art patron Peggy Guggenheim’s former residence. Both the interior and exterior views were fascinating…therefore, Looking In and Looking Out, two small 10 x 10″ canvases that capture my experience in some small way.

The interior was room after room of exquisite paintings that this intriguing woman had collected over her lifetime, set in the quiet rooms she lived in. And yet when you went to any window, or stepped outside on the patio facing the canal with its boisterous traffic of gondolas and commercial boats, you saw the craziness of the Venice world through the most beautiful dark black grill work.

These two small works are little oil sketches I did exploring the two sides of this fascinating museum. If you get to Venice, put it at the top of your list.

Teach your children well

20 Thursday Oct 2016

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Cambridge, Cambridge University, Fitzwilliam Museum

No matter what museum I am in, in any city, I will almost certainly see a group of school children visiting the galleries with their teachers and often a docent from the museum.

The Art Lesson just happens to be a scene I witnessed in the UK, at the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge University. But it could have been at any great museum.

The Museum itself is imposing, and when you enter you see cavernous ceilings, long halls lined in marble and a beautiful and eclectic collection of paintings.

When I first walked in to this gallery of impressionist paintings, there was an energetic group of children loudly roaming all over this particular space. But they soon calmed down and took their place on the floor in front of the paintings. And there they stayed surrendering to the art.

The casually relaxed children were clearly in stark contrast to the formal gilded trim and marble columns. But with a certain intensity, they finally found peace with their surroundings.

I could relate to these children. I have often wanted to sit on the floor in front of a great painting and just let the images speak for themselves.

If I were Queen

20 Wednesday Apr 2016

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Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, John Singer Sargent. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

I have always loved John Singer Sargent’s work. I have a book of his watercolors on my bookshelf which I refer to often, but his oil paintings of figures I search out to see “in person”. So when I had the opportunity to see “Sargent: Portraits of Artists and Friends” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York last summer (2015), I jumped at the chance. His colors are so rich and his figures look so grounded, graceful and comfortable in their own skin.

I was lucky when I was at the exhibition. It was busy, but not overcrowded. I was able to spend quiet time with some old friends, and make some new ones. I had never seen Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth which Sargent painted in 1889.

Ellen Terry was a famed Shakespearean actor in London. Sargent had seen her performance in the role of Lady Macbeth and she agreed to pose for him in costume. The robe was of green silk and blue tinsel adorned with thousands of beetle wings which created an iridescent effect. The colors in the painting were magnificent, highlighted by the gold trim, the impressive gold frame and the crown (which she never actually held over her head this way in performance…a dramatic pose devised by the painter). I decided to put an undercoat of gold to exaggerate this golden tone.

When I saw the woman with the red locks and red-orange sweater tied around her waist approach the painting, I knew I had the proper audience that would connect directly to the painting. The stunning red braids in the painting looped with gold were mirrored by the young woman in front of the painting.

I darkened the skirt of the woman in the background on the right, moved figures in the initial sketches to create the dramatic “V” from the foreground to the painting and the red-haired girl. After days of working on Lady Macbeth’s robes with translucent layers of thinned paint, I then worked on connecting the painting to the viewers with the reflections on the floor.

The last stage was refining the details in the red curls of the museum guest and placing a glowing reflection around her, while making the other figures less defined. If I were Queen was finished.

If I were Queen, oil on linen, 18″ x 24″, showcasing John Singer Sargent’s Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, 1889, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Exhibition

The Assignment

28 Thursday Jan 2016

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Agostina, Corot, The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

The has been a very transformative year. We moved north and have settled in a loft-like condo in the metro DC area. I moved my studio into my every day living space. And we just made it through Snowzilla, The Blizzard of 2016. I do love an adventure.

I started The Assignment right before the holidays when I was just settling in to my new space. I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out painting in an alcove off the living room. I had been so spoiled by my private studio space over our garage at our last home. But we opted for more urban living and downsizing went with it.

Heck, after months of turmoil moving everything in to storage after a quick closing and looking for a new home, I wasn’t sure if I could remember how to draw, let alone create a painting that I would love. When I am away from my art for too long, I always doubt my skill. This time was no different. It never gets completely comfortable, thank goodness.

But slowly I started craving my studio time again. I took the metro in to Washington DC to The National Gallery of Art to see if that would shake up my creativity, and as I wandered through the elegant galleries of the west wing I spied Agostina by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. I remembered when I had been in front of this particular painting a year ago, and a photo I had taken for future reference. I keep huge files from my museum wanderings.

I went back home and reminded myself of what I saw. Four women were deeply involved in the painting, notebooks in hand. But they weren’t writing they were looking and thinking…not a cell phone in site. I love these women.

I guessed they had a common bond in their assignment, but they also were alike in their obvious interest in the art. I could sense their thoughtful contemplation. They were each so different, yet they had a bond.

As I snapped away a man came rushing past the group. The perfect foil for their quiet study. They were at rest. I like to think I know them, although I can’t really. While I was painting them, I became part of the group, and we were all communicating with Agostina, a very soulful image.

Agostina Segatori was a famous artists’ model and the proprietress of a cafe in Paris in the second half of the 1800s. She obviously knew Corot who painted this portrait and sat for Manet, Delacroix and Dantan. Van Gogh mentioned her in two of his letters. It is believed they had a relationship in the spring of 1887, and he painted two portraits of her.

And so these women of the twenty-first century connect with this enigmatic woman of the 19th.

I love art museums where worlds collide in peaceful harmony.

Note: After a quick run back to The National Gallery of Art to look at the work again, I realized I had made Agostina too bright. I went back to my studio and took out some of the Disney princess aspect of my original attempt. Although I don’t pretend to copy the works exactly, I think this version looks closer in mood to the master work.

The Assignment, oil on linen, 40″ x 30″

The Museum Guard

29 Wednesday Jul 2015

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Alex Katz, Atlanta, High Museum

In art museums I have visited, there is always the presence of the guards watching the museum’s treasures. They try not to intrude on the experience, but keep a watchful eye on their charges.

I recently went to see “Alex Katz, This Is Now” at the High Museum in Atlanta. I love Katz’s work and had never seen so much together in one place. It was impressive, and the layout and scale of the exhibition was intimate yet grand. The show included 40 pieces, 15 that were unveiled for the first time. Most were large landscapes.

I went on a weekday, and the museum was nearly empty. But in every room, there were the guards, standing stoically by the work.

I always wonder what they are thinking of, hour after hour, in the presence of great art.

When I go in to a museum gallery, I spend a lot of time just looking, not just at the art, but also at the people looking at the art. And because it was so empty this time I especially noticed the guards.

This female guard was especially vigilant, standing where she could keep an eye on two adjacent galleries.

I know they notice me as I come in and out of their space photographing not just the art, but also them. They never question me or overtly acknowledge my presence. I find their aloof presence reassuring.

Do they stay focused on the art? Or are they wondering what they are going to cook for dinner that night?

Brown and White

17 Wednesday Jun 2015

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Hirshhorn Museum, Janine Antoni, Lick and Lather, oil painting, sculpture, Washington DC

I am never sure what will be the subject of my next painting. Sometimes I have a few images taped on my wall that I think may be possibilities.

But until I strip the wrapping off a new canvas, I am never really sure what my next painting might be. These photos are from the gardens surrounding the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington DC.

The inspiration for “Brown and White” came from this same visit to the Hirshhorn this past March, but from inside the galleries.

I hadn’t been to this museum in over a decade and had forgotten how much great sculpture there was.

When I came across “Lick & Lather” (1993-94), a twin piece by Bahamian sculptor Janine Antoni, I was fascinated. The brown bust is made from chocolate, and Antoni, known also as a performance artist, cast the piece and then licked the details and refinements in to the chocolate self-portrait.

For “lather”, she cast herself in soap, and then actually submerged the bust in a tub of water with herself and lathered the details in to shape. Fascinating.

When I saw the two pieces I immediately went to the wall to the left to read about the work. Following me, a well dressed middle-aged black gentleman did the same thing, trying to identify what the pieces were all about. Part of the explanation for the pieces talks about our love-hate relationship with physical appearance.

Several weeks later, the riots broke out in Baltimore over the death of a young black man while in police custody. It was one of several incidents that had been very troubling this year involving police misconduct against black individuals. I started thinking about the issue of race in this country, something that I have pondered more and more often in the last decade. Having lived in the Caribbean in a West Indian society had made me even more conscious of the differences and challenges of race in our country.

And of course, now that I live in the southern part of the United States where the issue of race is never far from the surface, I have pondered it even more.

All of a sudden, the photo I had taken back in March 2015 at the Hirrshorn had a new impact for me.

I chose it as reference to do “Brown and White” as my next painting. The color palate and simplicity of composition spoke to me as strongly as the underlying message. It was March when I saw the museum reference…the world was still brown and white, struggling to come out of winter in Washington.

Somehow, everything just seemed to be obvious for the painting.

“Brown and White”, 30 x 24″, oil on linen.

In Monet’s Garden

15 Sunday Mar 2015

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MOMA, Monet, New York City, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

There are times when I just want to escape from what I call “trauma porn”, that constant bombardment of the dark, angry words and images so prevalent at this moment in our society. It’s everywhere and it must sell well. I know there is distress and war and hardship in the world. And that should never be hidden. But the media feeds on it, and it seems like lately there is not a healthy balance with the more introspective, peaceful side of our society. There has to be an equal emphasis on good and what is enriching rather than only a biased focus on terror, anger and turmoil. How else will we be able to find our own personal balance?

What better place to contemplate the good than Monet’s garden, even if it is only at the Museum of Modern Art on a cold February morning.

I actually began working on a very different painting right before New Year’s. People often ask me how long a painting takes to complete. Well, it all depends.

I was trying to come to grips with a scene I had noticed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Four women were sitting sketching and it intrigued me. What a positive way to spend a morning. I worked on it for over a month.

But it just never came together the way I wanted it to. I couldn’t seem to find what Alex Katz (one of my favorite artists) calls the “inside energy”. This piece was not going there. I finally decided it was time to erase it from the expensive linen and begin again. And what better place to go than Monet’s gardens.

These Monets are at MOMA in NYC. After my trip there in early February, I was drawn to these two extraordinary paintings. The museum curators had moved them to a different gallery since the last time I was there, and it was quieter and more removed from the crowds.

I found these two women each transfixed by “Water Lilies” and “Agapanthus”. A recurring theme of mine in this series of paintings is how art and museums bring us to a more positive, introspective state. No bi-partisan arguing. No shrill media. As far as I can tell almost everyone finds peace and tranquility with a Monet. And if they want to explore a darker side, there are other galleries and paintings that focus on that. It’s all so civilized in a museum.

When I start a painting I am concerned with what the artist David Salle recently described in an article as an “alignment of intention, talent and form”. He suggests the art of painting on canvas has returned to importance, if it ever left. And these three values are what create a masterful painting.

I know Monet has this in his work. But do I? Can I?

I constantly strive for that interior energy in a painting. And my subject (or intent) is often an interpretation of ourselves attempting those perfect moments of contemplation. I’ll leave the dark side for others to explore for now. Monet certainly helps.

“In Monet’s Gardens”, oil on linen, 36″ x 24″, with thanks to MOMA and Monet.

accentBritain

~ a romance with art and all things British

Category Archives: Art Museums & Exhibitions

Seeing Red

Shared Impressions

Counterbalance

Life in Venice

Teach your children well

If I were Queen

The Assignment

The Museum Guard

Brown and White

In Monet’s Garden