October 5, 2013
January 6, 2013
October 8, 2012
Rose Frantzen
The ambitious complexity of many of Rose Frantzen’s paintings are seems to be matched by a lot of energy and verve. It’s great to see a former student of Richard Schmid taking his lessons to heart without copying his mannerisms, creating something very much her own but with the wisdom of the lessons learnt.
September 1, 2012
Charles Weed
Ahem, hello again…
Charles Weed is an American painter who studied in Minneapolis and Florence. He’s married to Louse Camille Fenne, who is also a gifted painter. I’m personally more drawn to his landscapes, but his figurative work is very strong too. He’s managed to carve out a distinctive look to his work without, it seems to me, forcing a style for the sake of it. A feathery shimmering light unifies his figurative and landscape work.
August 17, 2010
Nikolai Blokhin
Nikolai/Nikolay Blokhin is a wonderfully sensitive draftsman, who was professor of drawing at St Petersburg Academy of Art. He paints too, but it’s his drawings which I really like.
I’ve only recently started exploring the Russian art scene, and I really feel like I’ve been missing out, there’s some extraordinary talent there.
July 17, 2010
Carolyn Pyfrom
I’m always intrigued to see how artists develop having left the traditional ateliers and studios. Carolyn Pyfrom finished at the Florence Academy of Art in 2002, and it’s fascinating to see what she has kept from that training, and what she has left behind to find her own direction.
I recommend browsing her website to look at her progression
May 30, 2010
May 27, 2010
November 19, 2009
Donald Jurney
Donald Jurney’s landscapes show a very clear reverence for the work of the Barbizon and Hudson River Schools. Some of his compositions are much like Daubigny’s, with solid design drawing one’s eye between feathery trees, gently rippling water and skies heavy with atmosphere.
His wonderfully muted colours have a brilliant but subtle vibration that keeps his work from ever looking dull as many low-chroma landscapes do. Instead one feels the thickness of the air and the trickling flow of light.
There’s a great sense of focus in his work too. Often it is a tiny detail, a small area of strongly contrasting colour or value, that rings out clear like the triangle in an orchestra, bringing a touch of poetry to the broader areas.
October 11, 2009
Alejandro Decinti
Alejandro Decinti is a Chilean painter whose work I’m undecided about, but still want to post. His paintings from a few years ago display a similar approach and tonality as the work of Antonio Lopez Garcia, as can be seen in works like this one:
Then his paintings show an increased interest in paint for paint’s sake. The still life below of materials seems to play with the tension between materials and representation, with the blue of the bucket merging into the flat blue wall, thereby flattening the image. This sort of thing is reminiscent of Manet’s work, and a tribute to the Bar at the Folies-Bergere shows Decinti’s interest in him.
Thereafter his work becomes more involved with its own material qualities, with abstract marks breaking contours. His compositions have also become increasingly unsettling and often creepy.
Love his early work. Undecided about his later stuff. Opinions? Check out his website and see what you think.
The Hidden Place 