Thursday, January 18, 2007

"The Sentinel"

12 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

I do paint a lot of this subject - people inside of art museums - and I want to give you some insight on that. I love being in a museum looking at artworks. It's good for the soul, always. So I particularly enjoy painting the scenes I witness. Although some may see redundance - I can tell you, in person, there's more to it.

With some, I am so interested in the painting within my painting - most of the time, I choose my favorite works. And when reproducing those paintings, my mind wanders to what the artist was thinking. With some pieces, I focus more on the figures - how they relate to the artwork that they were viewing. And with some, the artwork is secondary, the figures were just there, but the area or lighting or brushstrokes are my main focus. And this painting is just that to me. I love the strong physique of the guard, the horizontal lines and the brushwork staying just loose enough for my liking. Taken from the Art Institute of Chicago.

Click here if you'd like a larger view and more info.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

But you do it so well, Karin, that I don't think people see it as redundance......they are all different. The backgrounds are different, the people are different, the artwork is different. These paintings, in a relatively small, but growing circle of people, are closely identified with you. Just as sorolla did many beach scenes, and Degas painted lots of ballerinas.
I love them.....don't stop doing them.

Anonymous said...

I recall hearing that Cezanne painted Mont Sainte Victoire over 200 times. The paintings are so similar, it takes an Ivory Tower egghead to be able to really tell the difference. And it takes an artist to really understand why he did it. And it takes 200 patrons to buy them. ;-)

The thing about being an artist today is, well, if you have a blog and a following of literally hundreds of people who can witness the progress in your studio as it happens, then it may seem redundant to someone who doesn't understand the process. I believe it can take years to paint through a body of work, or a theme.

Many artists struggle to find their way, they're constantly asking themselves huge questions and end up all over the place as far as subject, style, concepts. I think you're at a point many strive for. Confidence and understanding of your work.

Continuing with the gallery scenes is important. Each painting is more a study of gesture, light, color. You put forward an idea I haven't really seen before in painting -- the way people look at art -- the way they relate to it. Viewing art can often be an intimate moment. It's a relationship between the viewer and the painting. You capture that in your work like no one else. That's just cool.

Edward B. Gordon said...

this is simply a briliant painting !!!

Sarah said...

I love the solid quality of your paintings, plus the way you capture fleeting moments and light, so that contradiction, solid and airy, fleeting and timeless. Also, the simplicity of your brush strokes, the suggestion of the lables in this one, ah, lush. It is the tiny brush stroke that marks the brilliant from the banal, you have it, the brilliant that is. Ooh what a lot of praise for you today, lucky you!