beside the easel

Christian Dirce, 1897 Henryk Siemiradzki was a Polish Academic painter born on October 24, 1843. After studying painting in Russia and Munich he moved to Rome in his late twenties, where he would be known for his very large-scale paintings that rival Rubens in terms of sheer size. Siemiradzki (pronounced ShimiRADski) like many of his Russian-educated contemporaries, had a genius for multiple figure arrangement and use of natural light. Siemiradzki's attention to architectural and natural detail appears astounding from a distance, yet the way he paints detail is actually suggestive and emphasizes the appearance of texture over intricate detail. In Christian Dirce above, Siemiradzki depicts a scene from Greek mythology portrayed in the Roman arena about Dirce, wife of the ancient ruler of Thebes, martyred by being tied to the horns of a bull. In this instance, by the title of the painting, it is a Christian woman being martyred in the same fashion as Dirce. Note the elaborate ...

Fishermen hauling nets, North Beach, Skagen, 1883 Peder Severin Krøyer was a Danish Painter born in Norway on July 23, 1851. He was a key member of the so-called Skagen Painters , a group of en plein air artists from Northern Denmark who took a more Realist style that emphasized figures and fishermen, rather than the predominant Impressionism that swept France during the same period. Although Krøyer studied in Europe and especially Paris during this time, his style has an immediacy and presence that is warm and inviting, closer in style to Sorolla but with an emphasis on adults and families. He uses a very earthy palette leaning towards greens and yellows, but it is his use of light that is captivating. In Fishermen hauling nets above, we see a strong sense of movement and physicality that is not often portrayed in artwork of fishermen. We can actually feel the struggle of them tugging hard on that net, all seven of them, with their feet pressing deeply into the wet sand as...

Rear view of the Houses at Schloßfreiheit, 1855 Eduard Gaertner was a German architectural painter born on June 2, 1801 in Berlin. Known for his stunning attention to detail and his natural use of light, Gaertner was a Romantic who captured the everyday life of Germany with a fondness for the world he lived in. By this time it seems the era of the veduta had waned since Canaletto, yet Gaertner's views are more personal and real. He lived during the early years of photography and this had a marked effect later in his career. Looking at his beautiful scenes, we can sense a yearning for experiencing the moment and not just capturing it, as a camera can. The love of nature and architecture together summarize the sharp eye of Gaertner and in these examples we'll explore why. In Rear view of the Houses at Schloßfreiheit above, Gaertner uses perspective in a Classic veduta style with prominent architecture, but it is the way that late afternoon sun bathes the buildings while l...

Pierre Subleyras, Christ at the House of Simon the Pharisee, 1737 In this post I'd like to tackle a subject that I have been thinking of for a long time. As a photographer for nearly 30 years I devoured many books on how to take better photos and wasted numerous rolls of film trying to develop an innate sense of framing and "finding the shot" before I take it. And it works . Photography is great experience in honing your eye for what to include and exclude in the frame, and even what to enhance or focus on. But when it came to applying what I learned toward my art, I realized I still had much to learn. Indeed. One of the most misunderstood yet fundamentally important elements of art is composition . Incredible, but true. Many believe it's their signature or choice of color palette, or their artist statement that will garner more sales and gallery representation, not giving much of a second thought to the very element that literally holds their painting tog...

A Rainy Day in New York City, 1905 Born in St. Louis, Missouri on August 15, 1864, Paul Cornoyer was an American Impressionist painter. He studied under a scholarship at the Académie Julian in Paris under Jules Lefebvre and Benjamin Constant before eventually settling in New York years later, where his strong French influences would surface to bring about his own vivid style. Cornoyer had the uncanny ability to meld mood and color together in a way that made his architectural settings seem to speak aloud. In this post I'd like to talk about a few of his works. In A Rainy Day in New York City above, Cornoyer uses reflections and strong darks to balance warm and cool colors under an overcast sky that, despite being grey, actually has many subtle colors. The use of one-point perspective also leads our eye toward very cool distant buildings and an empty sky that brings our eye back to the architecture and pedestrians. Note the use of variance in edges, how the foreground tree i...

Boston Common at Twilight, 1886 Born on October 17, 1859 in Boston, Massachusetts, Frederick Childe Hassam was an American Impressionist painter and member of the Ten American Painters . At a period in time when America was redefining itself decades after the civil war and travelling to Europe, artists and collectors became inspired by the loose brushwork and mood of this new contemporary style. Many French Impressionists were social critics making sharp statements of the change in society from agriculture to industrialization, seeking a more pure environment of an unpolluted countryside. Hassam found his niche in depicting the modern urban streets of Paris, Boston and New York, paying particular attention not only to light and color but season and mood. Hassam loved nature also, and his works reflect a fascination with texture and color, emphasizing the tangible qualities of water, grass and worn architecture. However, he also painted people, and with a keen eye that is reminiscen...