"Matinee Idolizers"

9 x 12"

oil on panel
sold 

My new painting features Edward Hopper's New York Movie which I last saw at the Art Institute of Chicago, on loan from the Museum of Modern Art in an exhibition titled America after the Fall: Painting in the 1930's.  The exhibition included my very favorite painters - Hopper, O'Keeffe, Grant Wood to name a few - depicting scenes during the Great Depression.  It was unforgettable.

The Art Institute has several fun facts about New York Movie:

- Hopper painted the work in 1938 after a long dry spell of not painting anything.

- The location is the Palace Theater, now the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, chosen after scouting out the Strand and others.

- The woman on the right was modeled after Hopper's wife, Jo.  He had her stand under a hallway light in his building for sketching and studies.

- The outfit Jo is wearing was based on the wide-legged jumpsuits actually worn by the Palace Theater's staff.

- The theme on the movie screen was thought to be from a 1937 movie Lost Horizon by Frank Capra.

- The poet Joseph Stanton wrote an ode to the painting. 

Please click here for a larger view.

"Belfry"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

Now I know it's not nice to stare but I have this thing about fabrics.  Especially patterned, colorful fabrics.  I followed this woman around the galleries - enamored by her sari and layers of different jewel-toned wraps.  She reminded me of how elegant Georgia O'Keeffe was in her later years.

From the Art Institute of Chicago, a woman stands besides O'Keeffe's Church Steeple, 1930.  The painting belongs to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

"Drama Queen"

8 x 24"

oil on panel
sold

Of all the paintings by John Singer Sargent, this one, which I got to see in person, blew me away like no other - depicting the famous Shakespearean actress Dame Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth. 

Sargent attended the production of Macbeth at the London Lyceum and immediately wanted to paint the actress and convinced her to sit for him.  His pose of Terry holding a crown on her head, after the murder of Duncan, the Scottish king, didn't happen in the play, but he wanted a dramatic pose, concentrating on her intense gaze and that spectacular costume of green and blue embroidered silk.

Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth hangs in the Tate Britian.

My new painting will be included in the upcoming solo show Sargentology  opening March 2nd at the Robert Lange Studios.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Homebody"

9 x 12"

oil on panel
sold

I'm still working on paintings for my show Sargentology, but it's high time I posted those that I've completed, starting with the newest one.

Featured in this setting are three gentlemen - the viewer taking a rest on the gallery bench, Dr. Samuel Jean Pozzi on the left and the artist, John Singer Sargent to the right.

Sargent painted Dr. Pozzi at Home in 1881.  Dr. Pozzi was a good friend of Sargent's, he was a Parisian gynecologist and renowned dandy - described by a contemporary as 'himself a kind of beautiful work of art'.  Sargent painted his friend relaxed at home, wearing a plush, red robe with a puffy shirt underneath, with a peek of an embroidered slipper.  Notably, Pozzi's hands are a focus, elegant, one grasping the collar, the other pulling on the tie around his hip.  The attention to his hands suggests a reminder of Pozzi's method of examination in his profession as a gynecologist.  Dr. Pozzi at Home belongs to the Hammer Museum in LA.

Sargent painted his self-portrait in 1906 and belongs to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.

Please click here for a larger view.

All of my paintings for the show, opening March 2nd at Robert Lange Studios, can be seen here.

Happy New Year!

Thank you for visiting my blog and keeping up

with my paintings.

Wishing all a very happy, healthy, creative and sweet new year.  ~ Karin J

"Red Alert"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

I took a break from painting larger pieces and loosened up with this flirty moment - a woman seemingly being eyed by the Portrait of a Member of the Haarlem Civic Guard by Frans Hals.

Frans Hals (the Elder) was a Dutch Golden Age painter during the time of Rembrandt, a portrait artist much like his contemporaries.  I found it amusing that Hals insisted he stay in Haarlem and his clients needed to come to him to sit for a portrait, and it apparently worked for years because he did achieve success until he went out of style.  He was also an art restorer, dealer and art tax expert for the city.  Turned out the city and creditors sued him numerous times for debt and seized several pieces of furniture and paintings to settle. Left destitute, he was afforded a city pension but left nothing of note for his family when he died.

His portraits are hung in museums around the world.  There is a Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, Amsterdam, Antwerp, the Louvre in Paris, the Frick and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to name a few.

The Portrait of a Member of the Haarlem Civic Guard hangs in the National Gallery of Art DC.

'And to All a Good Night'

"And to All a Good Night"

by Norman Rockwell

Mentioned today in Charley Parker's artblog Lines & Colors.

~  Wishing you and yours a lovely Christmas holiday.

Calendars

SOLD OUT

The Swamp

I'm making progress.

Just to catch you up....

Here's where I have them on my website.

"Swept Away"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

Like many a Rembrandt painting,  A Girl With a Broom, painted in 1651, is one of the most-copied or faked paintings of all times.  In fact, the fakes have been produced since the mid-1700's.  Numerous people through the years have claimed they have the original, but alas, the original hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC.

Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.

"200 Faces, No. 157 & 158"

 4 x 4"

oil on panel

 4 x 4"

oil on panel

 

 

New additions to my ongoing series BUST-ED.

"200 Faces, No. 156"

4 x 4"

oil on panel

The newest addition to my ongoing series BUST-ED.

"An Assumption"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

This new painting will be my Christmas card this year.  

Featured is the Assumption of the Virgin with Saints Julian and Minias by the artist, Andrea del Castagno, painted in 1449.  The Rector of a church in Florence commissioned the painting for an altarpiece - a church that dated back to the 11th century.  In 1888, the church was demolished during the Reconstruction of Florence and the altarpiece was purchased by the Staatliche Museum in Berlin, where visitors can view this remarkable work of art.

The original photograph is by Stefan Draschan, who kindly gave me permission to use it as a reference.

"200 Faces, No. 155"

4 x 4"

oil on panel

A new addition to my ongoing series BUST-ED.

Asked why I'm painting these final 50 - it is practice, wishful thinking and very cathartic.

I've got a plan for these final 50, so for now, they will not go on auction.

"Daisy"

My friends' beloved Daisy.  RIP.

"200 Faces, No. 154"

4 x 4"

oil on panel

A new addition to my ongoing series BUST-ED.

"200 Faces, No. 153"

4 x 4"

oil on panel

A new addition to my ongoing series BUST-ED.

"200 Faces, No. 152"

4 x 4"

oil on panel

A new addition to my ongoing series  BUST-ED.  A preemptive mugshot of sorts.  The final 50 will be the individuals that are damaging our republic.  I'm simply venting thru my paintbrush.

"200 Faces, No. 151

4 x 4"

oil on panel
sold

I'm inspired to finish up my ongoing series BUST-ED with this new addition. 

"Heaven"

8 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

It's not just that the artist, Wayne Thiebaud, paints cakes, pies, cupcakes, ice cream cones and a variety of splendid desserts - he brushes on paint as if he were applying icing.  He swirls.  He wiggles.  And damn if every stroke and every touch of color, often unexpected color, is perfection. The last time I was at the National Gallery of Art in DC, I stood just as close as this woman and thought this is heaven.  

To mention, this is another small study for a larger painting.  And I really can't wait to start.

"Dignity"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

Believe it or not, I'm planning out a solo show taking place next March and this is one of the studies of one that I will do larger.  The artworks that will be featured are 'extra-large' - examples are (this) Barack Obama 'Hope' by Shepard Fairey, Guernica by Picasso, etc.

Shepard Fairey's large, mixed-media portrait is based on Fairey's Barack Obama 'Hope' poster, which came to represent Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.  Fairey created the large portrait after Obama won the election and the Smithsonian Institution acquired it for its National Portrait Gallery. 

"Listen Up"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

A small study - two young ladies grooving on Interrupted Reading by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot in the Art Institute of Chicago.

"Daisies Like This"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

I hope you've enjoyed your Labor Day weekend.

I've been painting studies all week including this new piece I finished this evening.  A woman viewing a painting in the Art Institute of Chicago - one that always makes me smile - Henri Matisse's Daisies.

"Overheads"

6 x 6" 

oil on panel
sold

From the Art Institute of Chicago, museum patrons waiting in line to an exhibit underneath one of Ellsworth Kelly's The Chicago Panels.

The Chicago Panels were commissioned specifically for the walls on the floor above the American Art sculpture court - consisting of six painted, monochromatic, curved aluminum panels. 

Please consider donating to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army to help people affected by Hurricane Harvey.  You can donate here to the Red Cross and donate here to the Salvation Army.