Raphael Rubinstein writes about Paul Georges, an overlooked New York School figurative painter. Georges' work, in addition to its commitment to political themes, is "a marvelous amalgam of painterly French modernism, Rococo exuberance, Northern European brooding and New York street attitude. Georges's achievement in any single of the modes he explored would be enough to
Paul Behnke posts an image gallery of paintings by British artist Carel Weight (1908-1997). According to the Tate Collection "[Weight] painted landscapes and portraits, but much of his work captured a mood of melancholia, evident in the mysterious presences in his ghost paintings set in the unassuming urban settings of west and south London most
Sharon Butler blogs about the exhibition Eva Struble: Landsmen at Lombard Freid Projects, New York on view through July 29, 2011. Butler writes that the show " ...features paintings of the architectural ruins in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Using vivid color and layered, translucent textures, Struble breaks down the realism of her reference images, creating
Harry Swartz-Turfle writes about the unique dedication to looking at the core of Rackstraw Downes' painting practice: "... when you think about how much of modern and contemporary art relies on juxtaposition or exaggeration for effects, Downes' approach begins to seem downright revolutionary." Swartz-Turfle also notes that "[Downes] wanted the discipline of reality's variation instead
Bob Duggan muses on what Lucian Freud's commitment to portraits meant to painting and what his passing may mean for the future of portraiture. Duggan writes: "Freud literally changed the face (and body) of portraiture... perhaps Freud is taking portraiture to the grave, or at least his brand of portraiture... Maybe the 21st century needs
Alan D. Pocaro reviews the exhibition Harry Reisiger: The Lyrical Modernist at the Phyllis Weston Gallery, Cincinnati on view through August 15th. Pocaro notes that although Reisiger "wore his influences on his sleeve..." he achieved "a pictorial quality overlooked by those on the hunt for an elusive (and mythical) novelty."
Larry Groff's must read post about the painter Walter Tandy Murch, (1907–1967) "an important still life painter who until recently it has been very difficult to find information or see many images of his work." In addition to many scanned images of Murch's paintings Groff also links to an illuminating essay about Murch's work by
Tom Winchester blogs a visual tour of the painting galleries at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida. He writes: "I resent New York because nothing seems old. Everyone’s childish, art is either conceptual or video-projected, everyone’s drunk, there are way too many MFAs, and the market corrupts... The Ringling Museum in Sarasota [houses]
David Levi Strauss and Christopher Bamford interview artist Dorothea Rockburne on the occasion of the retrospective exhibition Dorothea Rockburne: In My Mind's Eye on view through August 14, 2011 at the Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY. Levi Strauss, Bamford and Rockburne engage in a fascinating discussion of Rockburne's work and her time at Black Mountain
Daniel B. Gallagher reviews the recent exhibition Picasso, Miró, Dalí. Angry Young Men: The Birth of Modernity at the Palazzo Strozzi, Firenze. The show examines the work of the three artists "Miró, Dalí, and Picasso while each was striving to invent a new visual language by contemplating the work of the other two."
Martin Bromirski posts images from a recent studio visit with Brooklyn-based painter Jon Elliott. The images include images of Elliott's landscape paintings as well as his work The Approach - 303 miniature paintings installed as a single work.
James Kalm visits an untitled summer painting exhibition at Mitchell-Innes & Nash featuring the work of Katherine Bernhardt, Alfred Jensen, Chris Johanson, Chris Martin, Andrew Masullo and Judith Scott on view through August 5, 2011. The press release notes that the artists share "hand-wrought qualities and an aggressively direct use of color, texture, and material,
Maureen Mullarkey reviews the recent exhibition Lloyd Martin: Interstices at Stephen Haller Gallery. Mullarkey writes: "The fascination of Martin's painting lies in its pitch-perfect balance between the constraints of a formal grid and the rhythmic movement of horizontal bands within it. The tactile materiality of the paint, contained within strict, incised margins, contrasts with the
Franklin Einspruch reviews the recent exhibition Elisabeth Condon: Climb the Black Mountain at Lesley Heller Workspace. Einspruch writes: "Imagine if you could speak several languages, switching from one to another to suit your thoughts, inside of a single sentence. You might begin in English for the sake of clarity, then change to Chinese for an
Paul Corio posts the second part of painter George Hofmann's theory of a "new kind of pictorial space beginning to crystallize in painting which he refers to as 'Fractured Space.' " In this post Hofmann further defines the difference between 'Fractured Space' and cubsim. Part one of 'Fractured Space' is available here.
Jeffrey Dennis writes about the exhibition Forests, Rocks, Torrents: Norwegian and Swiss Landscapes from the Lunde Collection on view at the National Gallery, London through September 18, 2011. Although the works on view show the Northern Romantic influence of Caspar David Friedrich, Dennis writes that works by Swiss painter Alexandre Calame stand out: "There is
Tyler Green blogs about Thomas Nozkowski's 2009 painting Untitled (8-117) now on view at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo. Green writes that "The 'background' of the painting seems to emit pulses of light, but the yellow bulb in the center-foreground seems to glow steadily... for all that bouncing-light vibration, the surface of the painting
16 Miles of String
Andrew Russeth blogs installation images from the exhibition Painting Expanded at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. Painting Expanded "brings together work by 17 painters, most of them young and closely watched... curated by Renee Coppola, Phyllis Lally, Emily Ruotolo, and Scot Surdez."
C. Hughes-Greenberg blogs images from the exhibition Alice Neel: Men Only on view at Victoria Miro Gallery through July 29, 2011. The show features "an intimate selection of portraits by Alice Neel, focusing on her work with male subjects. Titled 'Men Only', the show highlights Neel’s relationship with the different men who posed for her
Matt Mignanelli blogs a photo-tour of the Peter Halley studio preview this week in Chelsea. Mignanelli writes that Halley's "command of surface and the variation of texture throughout each piece bring an extraordinary level of visual engagement." The paintings will be on view at Galerie Thomas Modern, Munich from September 10 to November 19, 2011.