2010 Art Related Travels: NYC

As I stated in a previous post, in January I was quite fortunate to go visit my good friend Diane Feissel in Philadelphia.  While on that visit, we took a bus trip up to NYC to meet up with our other good friend and fabulous painter Sadie Valeri who was visiting the big apple from San Francisico.  We spent the entire day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Seeing amazing works of art with two amazing friends was such a great way to break in the New Year!  Here are just a few of some of the works that struck me that day.  Again, there is much more to see at the MET and every time I get back there, I seem to find more great works I hadn't previously discovered.

Eugene Delacroix, Madame Henri Francois Riesener, oil on canvas 1835

Camille Corot, Portrait of a Child, oil on wood, 1835

Camille Corot is considered more of a french landscape painter (see example below) yet here in a room filled with Corot's masterful landscapes, I was surprised to find two of his finest portraits.  It is said that he painted fewer than 50 portraits in his life time which were mostly of his family or close friends. 

Camille Corot, The Environs of Paris, oil on canvas, 1860

Charles Brague, Bashi-Bazouk, oil on canvas, 1875

Jules Breton, The Weeders, oil on canvas, 1860

I loved walking into the room that this painting is hanging in.  It shares the space with a few Jean Francois Millet's wonderful paintings of a similar time of day.  I am in awe of paintings with back light situations.  It has got to be one of the most difficult casts of light to paint.  According to the placard hanging next to The Weeders, in his autobiography, Breton states that one evening he came across this twighlights scene of peasants pulling up "thistles and weeds... their faces haloed by the pink transparency of their violet hoods, as if to venerate a fecundating star".

 

Greenville Museum of Art

I am pleased to announce that I have been asked to be the Juror for this year's Greenville Museum of Art Artist Association's Annual Juried Exhibition.  The exhibition will run from July 29 - August 29, 2010.  I look forward to seeing GMA Artist's best work!  Thank you to Director, Charlotte Fitz for the opportunity.

More information on entering the exhibition can be found Here (scroll down) or on the Greenville Museum of Art's site.

Greenville Museum of Art
802 S. Evans St
Greenville, NC 27834
www.gmoa.org

Neighbor Painting Now Complete with Title

Space Between, oil on panel, 36" x 48"

Et Voila, here she is, my neighbor painting.  I found this painting particularly difficult to photograph high quality images of because of its size.  So, I have added a few detail shots to give you a closer view of some key areas.   

Space Between (detail), oil on panel, 36" x 48"

 Space Between (detail), oil on panel, 36" x 48"

2010 Art Related Travels: Philadelphia

As I said earlier, this first half of the year has been a very busy and art filled.  I need to take you back to January to give you a better idea of some of the great Art I've been so fortunate to see this year so far.  In January, I took a trip up to Philadelphia to visit my dear friend and fellow artist Diane Feissel.  She was so kind to take me around her new, fantastic city.  Among other things, she took me to the Philadelphia Museum of Art on an evening when they were hosting some wonderful Jazz Music.  We focused on viewing the American Collection which houses some of our countries greatests like Inness, Beaux, and several works by Thomas Eakins, in fact an entire room was dedicated to this local artist.  Here are some favorite images from this visit. 

Thomas Eakins, various portraits, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Thomas Eakins, Portrait of J. Harry Lewis, oil on canvas, 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 in, 1876

Thomas Eakins, The Agnew Clinic, oil on canvas, 84⅜ in × 118⅛ in, 1889

Thomas Eakins, The Agnew Clinic (detail), oil on canvas, 1889

Thomas Eakins, The Agnew Clinic (detail), oil on canvas, 1889

 George Inness, Short Cut Thru Watchung Station New Jersey, oil  on canvas, 1883

Cecilia Beaux, Portrait of George Burnham, oil on canvas, 47 3/4 x 41 3/8 in, 1887

There are of course many many more exemplary works in this museum.  The Philadelphia Museum of Art is definitely worth a visit.  They also have a very good website that shows most of their collection with the ability to zoom in.  You can find better images of these paintings and view the PMA's website by clicking HERE.

Next post will be about a quick trip to NYC... stay tuned.

Busy Busy Busy

It has been one VERY busy Spring. I have been busy painting, painting, traveling, painting, traveling again and oh yes, painting... I am so close to finishing the Neighbor painting (still working on a title). But before I get ahead of myself and post a nearly done painting, instead of the fully complete painting, I thought instead you might enjoy seeing some pictures of one of the great places I went.  When life has more time for organizing, resizing photos, and blogging I'll do a post on some of my favorite Art works seen this Spring. 

National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC