"His Hunch"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

The Art Institute of Chicago has several paintings by Vincent van Gogh but his Self-Portrait is special.  The size is unusually modest and you'll notice he adopts George Seurat's pointillist technique - one he saw in Seurat's fabulous A Sunday on La Grande Jatte.  Every single stroke is slashed on in little bits, the background is speckled with blues, greens, oranges and reds on top of a teal/blue surface.  The face is intense with multitudes of flesh, teal, oranges, reds, ochers and whites.

It's a small painting but an enormous treat for visitors.

"Hat in Hand"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

It is always a pleasure to loosen up and enjoy a more-painterly approach to a painting.

A gentleman resting on a bench on the second floor in the American Art Galleries in the Art Institute of Chicago.

"That's a Wrap"

3-3/4 x 10"

oil on panel
sold

I had this leftover, odd-size panel and I'm sorta obsessed with saris - I think many are so beautiful - and I snuck in this new painting for an auction.

The large painting in front of the woman is #61 (Rust and Blue) by Mark Rothko.

"Ladies in Waiting"

The four paintings here will be included in my upcoming show The Ladies - women resting on a bench between looking at the exhibits, a common sighting in any museum.  It can be hard on the feet.  Especially after a couple of hours of walking through the galleries.

For a larger view of each image just click on the titles.

Ladies in Waiting I

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

Ladies in Waiting II

6 x 6"

oil on panel

sold

 Ladies in Waiting III

6 x 6"

oil on panel

 Ladies in Waiting IV

6 x 6"

oil on panel

"Blowing Off Steam"

9 x 12"

oil on panel
sold

The painting I featured is one that stops me in my tracks every time in the Art Institute of Chicago - The Puff of Smoke by Gifford Beal.  The beautiful, billowing smoke is the first thing that blows my mind and the source of that smoke is hidden below eye level but it doesn't feel necessary.  The location is on the Hudson River at Newburgh, New York so it's presumed the steam is coming from a passing train.  And the palette - cool, silvery tones feel like a frigid day.  I just love this painting.

Gifford Beal was an American painter, born in New York City in 1879.  Cool facts, his brother became an accomplished artist as did his niece, who married Duncan Philips who founded the Philips Collection Museum in Washington, DC.  Gifford was a painter of everyday life, landscapes along the Hudson River and Rockport, Massachusetts, where he spent summers much like his other artists friends.

Check out Gifford Beal's work done in his later years, in the 30's - noticeably looser, using different medias other than oils, joining in on the Regionalist artists of that time.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Throwing Shade"

7 x 5"

oil on panel

sold

I live vicariously through painting....

"Rose Above"

9 x 12"

oil on panel
sold

Another painting here to add to my upcoming show The Ladies - featuring one of, literally, hundreds of women John Singer Sargent painted.  The commissioned portrait Lady With the Rose was Charlotte Louise Burckhardt, the 22-year-old daughter of wealthy parents.  Louise's mother was an old acquaintance of Sargent's and had plans for her daughter to marry the artist, but after a brief, two-day affair, they decided to remain friends rather than love interests. 

The Sargent portrait hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Please click here for a larger view.