"Smile"

 

 

8 x 10"

oil on panel

sold

Inspired by a recent article in the New York Times about the Louvre Museum's renovations taking place while the museum is closed due to COVID - I imagined a more accessible viewing of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.

In reality, the framed portrait is encased in bulletproof glass with a distanced railing for visitors to view the iconic masterpiece.  Here's the new set-up at the Louvre.

 

Please click here for a larger view.

"Join the Party"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

I was enamored with At the Moulin Rouge from the first time I saw it at the Art Institute of Chicago. It was that haunting face on the far right, as if she was looking at me through a window seemingly inviting me in to join the party.  

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec painted Paris' nightlife like no other.  Caricatures who he knew well, like Jane Avril in the center with the flaming-red hair or the dancer May Milton who stares at you with her painted face.  The painting is two joined canvases, said to have been severed by Lautrec's dealer after his death - hoping the separate canvases were more saleable.  The entire composition was eventually restored.

"Rain Delay"

8 x 10"

oil on panel
sold

Anyone who has been in the Art Institute of Chicago knows when you walk through the lobby and up the marble stairs, you walk straight into the large, open French Impressionism gallery and see the huge painting by Gustave Caillebotte Paris Street, Rainy Day front and center.  Most likely, there's already a dozen people standing in front of it.  It's one of the museum's prized possessions.

Gustave Caillebotte was a French painter and member of the Impressionists, distinctly different from the others with his more realistic manner of painting.  He was also known for having an early interest in photography as an art form.  Notably, he was a generous contributor of his fellow artists and friends - paying their rent if they needed and purchasing their work in support, largely due to his large inheritance after his father and mother's death when he was in his 20's.  Caillebotte also used his wealth to pay for various hobbies - stamp collecting, growing orchids, yacht building and textile design.  

"Two of a Kind"

12 x 11"
oil on masonite
nfs

For my good friend - from her visit to the Musee du Louvre, in Paris, an artist painting the masterpiece 'Atala Portee au Tombeau', by Girodet-Trioson.

"Walk Through"

12 x 12"
oil on masonite
sold

I went away. Just for a couple of days, unplanned, but needed. I reached a point of (slight) burn out. My Jack has had good days and awful days and I felt overwhelmed, as we do when we take care of ailing loved ones. I needed a break - yet I anguished over leaving even just for an afternoon. But it gets to the point where you can't function and I don't have time for that.

So..... I took a nice, easy roadtrip to the South Carolina coast, enough time to visit the gallery I've got new paintings in, meet the nice people who take care of my work. I got a little time in on the beach, of course taking pictures of tons of people - then watched a nearly-full moon rise over the ocean. Pure bliss. Unplanned and just what I needed.

If you're saying to yourself another painting of Paris Street, Rainy Day, just know - I cannot get enough of this masterpiece. The couple up front, seemingly walking right through the frame onto the floor of the museum - it is the biggest draw in the Art Institute - capturing people's awe all day long.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Mother Superior"

12 x 12"
oil on masonite
sold

My good friends were in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris and captured these three young women looking at James Whistler's 'Arrangement in Grey & Black: The Artist's Mother' - most of us know it as 'Whistler's Mother'. I usually paint the figures head to toe - I do love the zoomed in view on this image with the different postures and clothing. Very fun to paint.

Please click here for a larger view.

"We Still Have Paris"

12 x 12"
oil on masonite
sold

Several months ago, I accepted an invitation to be a part of a Summer Collection Show, created by the Morris & Whiteside Galleries, located in Hilton Head, South Carolina. It was an offer I couldn't refuse - their gallery reps some of my favorite painters - Steven Scott Young, Michelle Torez, Kim English, Dan McCaw, Milt Kobayashi, Joseph Lorusso, Ken Auster to name a few. I cannot express how proud I am to be hung on the same wall with those artists whom I've admired for so long.

This painting was featured in their beautiful catalog - and I'm proud to say it sold shortly after the catalog landed in the mailboxes of the gallery's collectors. Done from a recent trip to Chicago, it portrays a young couple in front of Caillebotte's enormous and famous painting 'Rainy Day, Paris Street'.

For a larger view, please click here.

"A Room With a View"

12 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

As you can see, I decided to carry on and finish this piece as I initially planned - and I'll tell you why. You know I was about halfway done and was tempted to try something different and essentially subtract the surroundings from the figures. Convinced that that idea is interesting - and that it has such great potential - I decided to save it for another painting.

The comments I continue to get in both emails and blog posts are really helpful - in that I realize what I didn't want was for the figures to appear as cutouts. I also realized that if I planned that from the beginning I would have changed some things about the composition. In other words, it takes a lot more thought and planning from the get-go when the strength of the painting relies solely on the placement of the figures.

I also think I'm partial to the scene finished, in this case, because I can remember that room so well - how spacious it is, how the marbled floor reflects the people, how light comes from all different sources and mostly how that painting "Paris Street, Rainy Day" is the major spectacle of the room.

I also intended for this painting to be in an upcoming exhibition in May - but I've changed my mind. For that, I still want to do something unexpected of me - and perhaps take on the aforementioned challenge.

This painting will be slated for my upcoming July show at 16 Patton Gallery, in Asheville, North Carolina.

Click here for a larger view.