Underpaintings

Words of Wisdom: Jules Bastien-Lepage

2012-01-29T23:15:00.000-05:00

Joan of Arc (detail)

"I assert," said Bastien-Lepage, "that when one paints the past, it should at any rate be made to look like something human, and correspond with what one actually sees around one ... and if one had a fancy to represent the Prodigal Son or Priam at the feet of Achilles ... one would paint them in the surroundings of the country with the models that one has at hand, just as if the old drama had taken place yesterday evening. It is only in that way that art can be living and beautiful."

Joan of Arc 1879
oil on canvas
100 X 110 in.

Frederic Leighton - Sir? Lord? Baron?

2012-01-26T13:50:00.000-05:00

Solitude (1890)
72 X 36 in.
oil on canvas

In his day, the artist Frederic, Lord Leighton, would not have been accustomed to being addressed by such a grand honorific as "Lord." Though born to a wealthy family with connections to royalty (his grandfather, Sir James, was the Court Physician in Russia, specifically attached to the service of Empress Elizabeth, the wife of Alexander I, and later was also doctor to Czar Nicholas), Leighton did not inherit his title. In 1878, when Leighton was elected President of the Royal Academy of Art, Queen Victoria bestowed upon the artist his first title: Knight Bachelor. This is the most basic rank of knighthood, but earned the artist the right to be addressed as "Sir Frederic Leighton." Eight years later, Leighton was created a Baronet, which placed him in rank above most knights, though it did not yet make him a nobleman. He was still to be addressed as "Sir." On January 24th, 1896, however, Leighton entered the world of British nobility, when he was issued the title of Baron, and the honor of being called "Lord.". Unfortunately, for the Right Honourable Frederic, Lord Leighton of Stretton in the County Shropshire, this new appellation would not become familiar to his ears; he died the very next day.

As a Baron, Lord Leighton holds two historically significant distinctions. Not only was he the first artist ever created a Baron in the United Kingdom, his Barony, which lasted a single day, is the shortest -lived peerage in British history. With Leighton's death, and the facts that he had not been married nor given issue, the Barony of Stretton was extinguished fewer than 24 hours after its creation.

'Resolve' at the Joshua Liner Gallery NYC

2012-01-24T22:35:00.000-05:00

Tony Curanaj
Nouveau Red (2011)
oil on canvas
18 X 36 in.

Opening this Thursday at the Joshua Liner Gallery in New York City is Resolve, a group show celebrating the "other side" of contemporary art. Organized by artist Tony Curanaj, the show features 25 artists (22 painters, 2 sculptors, and 1 photographer) whose works celebrate classical art traditions and training. This is the first in a series of annual, artist-curated exhibitions scheduled for the gallery.

“This exhibition," says Curanaj, "reflects a relativelynarrow but varied slice of the art world, and presents it to an audience that may not be exposed to thissegment of contemporary art practice. The title Resolve speaks of (the artists') determination and progression,qualities that imbue each of these works with beauty and technical virtuosity. From concept to execution, thesecontemporary masters... are completely engaged in the artist’s process and an artistic direction thatis unwavering, regardless of fashion or trend.”

Those artists featured in the show include founders and teachers of some of today's best centers for training in the realist tradition. Schools such as the Water Street Atelier, the Grand Central Academy, the New York Academy of Art, the Ani Art Academy, and the Janus Collaborative are all represented, with works by the following artists:

For several reasons, this a very important show that should not be missed. First, Resolve is artist-curated; Curanaj has taken an active role in promoting contemporary realism, rather than just lamenting the position of classically-based art in the world. Second, this show marks another major inroad into the Chelsea Arts District. Since the mid-1990's, when the Modern artists left SoHo and re-established the Contemporary art scene in Chelsea, there has been little room for representational artists among the 350+ galleries in the area. If nearby, please make sure to stop in and support these artists, and the Joshua Liner Gallery for recognizing realism's place in the market.

Resolve will run from January 26th through February 25th, with an opening reception this Thursday from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Joshua Liner Gallery is located at 548 W. 28th Street, 3rd floor, in the Chelsea district of Manhattan. For more information, please visit www.joshualinergallery.com, or contact Elizabeth Kurita at 212.244.7415 orelizabeth@joshualinergallery.com.

Edward Minoff
Untamed
oil and gold on linen
24 X 36 in.

Anthony Waichulis
A Summer Affair (2011)
oil
7 X 5 in.

Scott Waddell
Half World (2011)
oil on canvas
24 X 18 in.

Michael Grimaldi
Portrait of Trinette (2011)
tempera on canvas
18 X 14 in.

Jacob Collins
Interior III (2009)
oil on canvas
12 X 16 in.

Christopher Gallego
Studio Interior (2011)
oil on canvas
51 X 49 in.

All photos courtesy the artist and Joshua Liner Gallery

Max Ginsburg Workshop, Austin, TX

2012-01-23T22:45:00.000-05:00

"Max Ginsburg will teach and demonstrate his unique approach to portrait and figure painting in an intensive 5 day workshop at the Gemini School of Visual Arts just north of Austin, TX. Max has had a long career as a commercial illustrator with over 200 book covers under his belt. He has also won many awards for his fine art paintings including Best of Show in this year's Art Renewal Center Salon. In 2011 Max released a retrospective book spanning 50 years of his work coinciding with retrospective shows opening in New York City and Indiana. Max taught for many years at the School for Visual Arts in New York City and continues to be a very popular workshop instructor at the Art Students League.This is a rare opportunity for artists to study with Max outside of New York City!"

Max Ginsburg: Painting From Life in Oil

April 2- 6, 2012

Venue: Gemini School of Visual Art

Contact: Danny Grant

214-454-2172

dannygrant79@yahoo.com

Workshop Website: www.maxginsburginaustin.blogspot.com

click image for Max Ginsburg Retrospective book

Words of Wisdom: R.H. Ives Gammell

2012-01-19T23:20:00.003-05:00

Great painting is the result of two factors. The first essential is that the painter should be expressing his own genuine emotional reactions in a form which is the appropriate vehicle for that expression. The second factor is that he should be a master of that form.

~ R.H. Ives Gammell

What's On View: January 2012

2012-01-19T22:45:00.000-05:00

Here are just a few exhibits and shows going on during the month of January. Most are in the mid-Atlantic area, and near to where I live, though several are events further afield which I wish I could attend. I will update the list and re-post it as I become aware of other exhibits of interest. Scroll to bottom for previews of upcoming months.

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Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum (WI): Dinotopia:
The Fantastical Art of James Gurney
January 28, 2012 - April 8, 2012

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Joshua Liner Gallery (NYC): Resolve
January 26 - February 25

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Hirschsprung Collection (DK): Krøyer - An International Perspective
November 11, 2011 - April 10, 2012

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Louvre (FR): New Frontier: l'art américain entre au Louvre
January 14, 2012 - April 16, 2012

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Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art (CA): The Epic and the Exotic:
19th-century Academic Realism from the Dahesh Museum of Art
January 14 - April 1

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The Tennant Gallery (UK): Driven to Draw:

20th Century Drawings and Sketchbooks from the

Royal Academy's Collection

November 3, 2011 - February 12, 2012

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Animazing Gallery (NYC): World of Froud:
Visions for Film & Faerie
December 2, 2011 - February 12, 2012

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Boca Raton Museum of Art (FL): American Treasures:

Masterworks from the Butler Institute of American Art

December 13, 2011 - March 18, 2012

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Delaware Art Museum (DE): Howard Pyle: American Master Rediscovered
November 12, 2011 - March 4, 2012

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Norman Rockwell Museum (MA): Norman Rockwell and
the Ghost of Christmas
November 19, 2011 - March 4, 2012

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North Carolina Museum of Art (NC): Rembrandt in America
October 30, 2011 - January 22, 2012

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Montclair Art Museum (NJ): George Inness: Private Treasures

November 6, 2011 - April 1, 2012

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The National Gallery (UK): Leonardo da Vinci:

Painter at the Court of Milan

November 9, 2011 - February 5, 2012

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Booth Western Art Museum (GA): Western American Art
South of the Sweet Tea Line
September 24, 2011 - February 12, 2012

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Reading Public Museum (PA): American Impressionism:
The Lure of the Artists' Colony
September 24, 2011 - January 29, 2012

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Mona Bismarck Foundation American Cultural Center (FR):

The Wyeths: Three Generations of American Art

November 8, 2011 - February 10, 2012

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Museum of Fine Arts (MA): Degas and the Nude
October 9, 2011 - February 5, 2012

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The Fitzwilliam Museum (UK): Vermeer's Women: Secrets and Silence

October 5, 2011 - January 15, 2012

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Brandywine River Museum (PA): Masterpieces by Andrew Wyeth

from the Collections

September 24, 2011 - January 20, 2012

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Delaware Art Museum (DE): The Storyteller's Art:

Reimagining America Through Illustration

September 7, 2011 - December 2012

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Mana Art Center (NJ): Highlights from the Louis K. and
Susan P. Meisel Collection of Photorealist Art
September 18, 2011 - January 2012

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York Art Gallery (UK): William Etty: Art and Controversy
June 25, 2011 - January 22, 2012

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Freer Gallery of Art (D.C.): The Peacock Room Comes to America
April 9, 2011 - Spring 2013

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Krannert Art Museum (IL): Jerusalem Saved! Inness and the Spiritual Landscape
August 26, 2011 - May 13, 2012

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The Clark Institute (MA): Rembrandt & Degas: Two Young Artists
November 13, 2011 - February 5, 2012
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC): Rembrandt & Degas: Two Young Artists
February 2012 - May 2012

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Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PA): Henry Osawa Tanner:

Modern Spirit

January 28 - April 15

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UPCOMING

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Dulwich Picture Gallery (UK): Van Dyck in Sicily:

Painting and the Plague 1624-25
February 15 - May 27

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The Wallace Collection (UK): The Noble Art of the Sword:
Fashion and Fencing in Renaissance Europe
May 17 - September 16

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Tate Britain (UK): Pre-Raphalites: Victorian Avant-Garde
September 12, 2012 - January 13, 2013

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Words of Wisdom: Frederic Lord Leighton

2012-01-17T23:35:00.000-05:00

"I have the reputation of being a rapid worker, but in reality I am a very steady, slow worker. I make many experiments before I begin, but when I start I go straight away. I work with a belief that the deliberate work is the swiftest... I paint practically all day, according to the work I have in hand... I consider six hours a very good day's work. As for waiting for inspiration I have no faith in it. I am guided by the nature of the task I have in hand. I take the thing as it comes... Waiting for the mood, being unable to control oneself, is the stamp of amateurism. My principle is that one ought always to control oneself."¹

~ Frederic Lord Leighton

¹Cassells Saturday Journal, 1052, January 29, 1896, p. 75.

New American Wing Galleries at the Met

2012-01-16T00:40:00.000-05:00

Artist Marvin Mattelson recently contacted me to let me know how much he is looking forward to the opening of the New American Wing Galleries for Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mattelson, who brings his classes at the School of Visual Arts to the Met each semester to discuss particular, important works of art, was at first worried what the new construction would mean for his favorite paintings, but after seeing the online images of the renovated wing, he cannot wait to bring his students back to the museum. Not only are the paintings now being illuminated by natural light from newly installed skylights, the 3,300 square feet of additional space has allowed for many paintings once only regularly viewed in the Luce Center Visible Storage area to be put on proper display.

The 73 galleries in the Met's 30,000 square foot American Wing are available now for online viewing, including large-file images of each of the paintings on display. The images are interactive, and the amount of detail visible in the magnified images is superb.

Marvin Mattelson's Portrait and Figure Painting Classes as part of the School of Visual Arts' Continuing Education department will begin new sessions later this month. For more information visit the school's online catalog. Limited space is available.

From the Museum's Press Release:

New American Wing Galleries for Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative ArtsOpening: Monday, January 16, 2012

The Metropolitan Museum’s collection of American art, one of the finest and most comprehensive in the world, returns to view in expanded, reconceived, and dramatic new galleries on January 16, 2012, when the Museum inaugurates the New American Wing Galleries for Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts. The new installation will provide visitors with a rich and captivating experience of the history of American art from the 18th through the early 20th century. The suite of elegant new galleries encompasses 30,000 square feet for the display of the Museum’s superb collection.

This final phase of the American Wing renovation project is comprised of 26 renovated and enlarged galleries on the second floor. The new architectural design is a contemporary interpretation of 19th-century Beaux-Arts galleries, including coved ceilings and natural light flowing through new skylights. The redesign, which has added 3,300 square feet of gallery space, also allows for a chronological installation of the American paintings and sculpture, and improved pathways connecting to adjacent areas of the Museum.

Twenty-one of the new galleries—including the 18 sky-lit Joan Whitney Payson Galleries—have been created for the display the American Wing’s extraordinary collection of paintings. Its origins date back to the 1870s, thanks to the strong support of founding Trustee-painters Frederic Edwin Church and John Frederick Kensett. For the first time, the paintings collection is shown on a single floor, enhancing accessibility and coherence of the display. The Museum’s holdings are particularly rich in the works of the great masters, including John Singleton Copley (Daniel Crommelin Verplanck), Gilbert Stuart (George Washington), Thomas Cole (The Oxbow), Church (The Heart of the Andes), Winslow Homer (Prisoners from the Front), Thomas Eakins (Max Schmitt in a Single Scull), and John Singer Sargent (Madame X).

The centerpiece of the new installation is one of the best-known works in all of American art, Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s 1851 painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. For the re-hanging of this magnificent work, a large and stately gilded frame has been painstakingly recreated by Eli Wilner & Company from a recently discovered photograph of the painting from 1864. The renovated galleries afford a dramatic vista toward this monumental canvas, which hangs in the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation Gallery. This double-sized gallery showcases Leutze’s iconic work alongside two other masterpieces—Church’s Heart of the Andes and Albert Bierstadt’s Rocky Mountains—just as they were displayed at the famous 1864 Metropolitan Sanitary Fair. These three paintings have been beautifully restored as part of the renovation project.

The Museum’s encyclopedic collection offers visitors the broad sweep of American history as told through great works of art. The aforementioned central gallery focuses on the themes of freedom, exploration, and expansion that pervaded America during the mid-19th century. Other subjects, themes, and periods presented in the new galleries include: Colonial Portraiture, the American Revolution, the Young Republic, the Civil War Era, Art in the Folk Tradition, the Hudson River School, the West, the Cosmopolitan Spirit, and American Impressionism.

Interspersed among the pictures is the American Wing’s sculpture collection, which is equally distinguished and especially strong in Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts works. Artists represented include Erastus Dow Palmer, John Quincy Adams Ward, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Daniel Chester French, Frederic Remington, and Frederick William MacMonnies.

The new suite of galleries also encompasses the Anthony W. and Lulu C. Wang Galleries of Eighteenth-Century American Art, featuring four rooms dedicated to the display of American decorative arts, principally treasures of colonial furniture and silver. Selected highlights of the Museum’s extraordinary collection of early American silver include works by John Hull and Robert Sanderson, Myer Myers, and Paul Revere. The furniture gallery has masterpieces of late colonial case furniture by John Townsend of Newport and Thomas Affleck of Philadelphia, complemented by imposing architectural elements. In addition, the galleries include the grand pre-revolutionary entrance hall of the Van Rensselaer Manor House, Albany, New York.

The reserve collections of the American Wing are housed in the 17,000-square-foot Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art, on the mezzanine level. The Luce Center, with its glass cases of some 9,500 objects, allows the Museum to display entire collections that otherwise would be represented by only a few highlights in the galleries. The concurrent renovation of the Luce Center includes a major revamping of its technological capabilities and additional cases for American sculpture and furniture. The public’s interface with the collection will be improved vastly by new touch-screen case labels and upgraded computer access enabling easy and in-depth searching for information about objects both in the Luce Center and throughout the American Wing.

The opening of the New American Wing Galleries for Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts represents the third and final phase of a major, multi-part renovation project. Part 1 opened in January 2007 with galleries dedicated to the classical arts of America, 1810-1845. Part 2 opened in May 2009 with the renovation of The Charles Engelhard Court and the Period Rooms. With the opening of Part 3, nearly all of the American Wing’s 17,000 works are now on view.

In celebration of the new galleries, the Museum will offer a wide array of programming designed to engage all audiences. Highlights include performances, lectures, and private gallery tours, as well as a symposium, a conference for K-12 teachers, family and teen programs, film screenings, and gallery programs exploring artists’ techniques.

An extensive new audio tour of the New American Wing Galleries for Paintings, Sculpture, and Decorative Arts will be offered as part of the Museum’s Audio Guide Program. It will be available for rental ($7, $6 for Members, $5 for children under 12).

A special area of the Museum’s website dedicated to the new galleries—including descriptions of each of the rooms, a floor plan, details about the related programming and publications, highlighted works of art, and more—can be found at www.metmuseum.org/americanwing.

Technique: Lord Leighton (1830-1896)

2012-01-14T16:45:00.000-05:00

Frederic Lord Leighton
Self-Portrait (1880)
oil on canvas
30 X 25¹⁄₈ in.

Frederic Leighton, Lord Stretton, drew much inspiration from early Italian painters and often took trips to the continent to study their works. A certain acquaintance of his, a Mr. Simonetti of Venice, apparently had access to damaged works by past masters, and would dissect the paintings, peeling back their various layers for Leighton to inspect. In this way, Leighton was able to draw conclusions as to how Andrea Schiavone, Jacopo Bassano, Giorgione, and Titian built their paintings.¹

A Girl

Giovanni Costa, a fine painter in his own right, often accompanied Leighton while he was in Italy, and the two based their techniques on the discoveries they made. After Leighton's death, Costa wrote a remembrance of his long-time friend and included the following information about their method:

The result of these studies and of the experience of years was that Leighton and I definitely adopted the following method. Take a canvas or panel with the whitest possible preparation and non-absorbent - the drawing of the subject to be done with precision and indelible. On this seek to model in monochrome so strongly that it will bear the local colours painted with exaggeration, and then the grey, which is to be the ground of all the future half-tones; on this paint the lights, for which use only white, red and black, avoiding yellow, and stabbing (botteggiando) with the brush while the colour is wet, make the half-tints tell out from the grey beneath, which should be thoroughly dry. When all is dry, finish the picture with scumbles (spegazzi), adding yellow to complete the colour.

Portrait of Professor Giovanni Costa (1878)
oil on canvas
19 X 15³⁄₈ in.

Leighton formed his method of painting from these general maxims, and he painted my portrait at Lerici on these principles as an experiment, and then in 1878 we adopted the system definitely. For this portrait he had four sittings - one for the drawing and the monochrome chiaroscuro, one for the local colours; then, having covered all with grey, he painted the lights with red, white and black, making use of the thoroughly dried grey beneath for his half-tints. With scumbles he completed the colour and the modelling (sic).²

Leighton's full palette consisted of the following colors:³

Flake White

Orpiment

Yellow Ochre

Raw Sienna

Raw Umber

Red Ochre

Madder

Green Earth

Malachite Green

Cobalt Blue

Ultramarine Blue

Ivory Black

Head of a Girl in a White Dress (c. 1893)
oil on canvas
15 X 10 in.

(detail)

¹ Costa, Giovanni, "Notes on Lord Leighton," in The Cornhill Magazine, Vol. II, January-June (1897), pp. 381-382.
²ibid.
³Osborne, R. and Pavey, D. (2004), Color Academy 2006- Artists' Palettes and Colour Mixing, retrieved January 13, 2012 from {www.coloracademy.co.uk/ColorAcademy%202006/palettesandmixing/historical/romantic/realism/leighton.htm}

Of Pencils and Brushes...

2012-01-10T00:15:00.000-05:00

In reading through older art books on painting technique, the word "pencil" often appears, but not with the denotation with which we are now accustomed. It is obvious by the syntax that when the authors use "pencil," they are speaking about a paintbrush, but then when they use the term "brush" in other parts of their books, that word obviously designates an item which they consider to be separate and different (eg. "outline the shadow area with a hog's hair pencil, then use a brush to mass-in the tone"). Why would someone use the word "pencil" when they mean paintbrush, and, in the mind of an earlier artist, what made these "pencils" different from "brushes"?

In actuality, the word "pencil" originally meant "paintbrush." Its usage can be traced to the late 14th century where it was derived from the Old French word pincel, which in turn, developed from the Latin term penicillus, or literally, "little tail." Specifically, it was a small paintbrush, as penicillus was a diminutive of peniculus, Latin for "brush."

Using the word "pencil" to refer to the graphite writing and drawing instrument was a development that came about in the 16th century. In 1565, a deposit of very pure and solid graphite discovered in the Cumbria region of England proved to be easy to saw into sticks, and these sticks, when wound with string or inserted into metal holders, were found to be extremely convenient for writing. "Pencil" brushes, which had been used for centuries as writing tools, were soon replaced. In many countries, the new implement - and its successive improvements - became known as "lead pens" (graphite was at first mistaken for lead, and was even called "black-lead," until Swedish chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele identified the material as a crystalized form of carbon and named it graphite in the late 18th century). In France, the country which introduced the word pincel, the "lead pen" became known as the "crayon;" in England it appears that the word "pencil" remained in use, despite the fact that the original tool was replaced by an entirely new object.

To a painter during those earlier times, a "pencil" was always a paintbrush, while a "lead pencil" would have been the graphite tool.

Hair "pencils" were not sized with numbers as were other brushes, but in quill sizes. This reflects not only their history as writing implements, but also the origins of their construction. In the first "pencils," the quills of crow, duck, goose, or swan were boiled to soften and swell the ends, and the hairs were then inserted. As the quill cooled and dried, it shrank tightly around the hairs. Often the end was wrapped in wire to help secure the hairs, but could be removed once the quill had re-hardened.

Generally speaking, "pencils" were smaller, and made of soft filaments. These fibers could be mongoose, sable, swan's down, camel-hair, squirrel tail, or children's hair. Painting "brushes," on the other hand, were larger and almost always made of hog's hair bristle.

New DVD from Donato Giancola

2012-01-08T12:45:00.000-05:00

Brooklyn-based Donato Giancola has just released a new DVD which documents his processes as he creates a tribute to Joan of Arc, whose 600th birthday will be celebrated later this year. The four hour long instructional video follows the award-winning illustrator from the first, abstract concept sketches, all the way through to the final glazes. Filmed and edited by Aaron Fagerstrom, the same person behind Donato's The Mechanic, Joan of Arc promises to offer the same detail and insight as that which made his first video so successful.

"The desire to create a painting about Joan of Arc had been flittering about in my sketchbook for years," says Donato, "ever since returning from a visit to France and the region of Burgundy where she lived. Thus when considering what subject matter to tackle for my second step-by step process DVD, Joan was an obvious choice, not withstanding the celebration of her 600th birthday occurring in this year, 2012."

"Rather than portray her in an overly heroic pose, I pursued an image which entwines her in the political forces at play during her brief fame and martyrdom - the noblility of France and England, the Church, and the common Frenchman."

"... it was my intent to use ambiguity to stress the complexities of the forces which shaped Joan of Arc.Are we here at her moment of triumph at Orleans embraced by a sympathetic French Nobleman? Or at her capture outside of Compiegne a little over a year later by the Burgundians? Is the Clergyman bowing in awe and prayer, or attempting to strip Joan of the symbol of her Faith? Is that arm supporting the banner, or pulling it down?"

The DVD is available for $49.95 from Pijjen Media, or directly from Donato Giancola.
"Join the Creative Journey."

"One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying." ~ Joan of Arc

An Odd Fact or Two

2012-01-06T23:25:00.000-05:00

When news broke of Norway's decision to imprison Odd Nerdrum for gross tax fraud, I must admit, my reaction was mixed. Not knowing the full story, I found myself torn between wanting to stand behind Nerdrum as a fellow-artist, and feeling he deserved to be prosecuted for any of his possible transgressions. As additional information has come to surface, rather than find myself solidly in one camp or the other, I find myself no less confused by the facts. Both the prosecution and the defense seem to have made errors - some intentional, some accidental - in this case which, all pun intended, is rather Odd.

At the center of the controversy is the Norwegian government's assertion that Nerdrum did not disclose his full income between 1997, when the artist signed with Forum Gallery in New York City, and 2002, when the artist formally moved to Iceland (the tax audit actually encompassed the years 1992-2002, but no discrepancies seem to have been detected prior to Nerdrum's 1998 tax return). A portion of the money which Nerdrum is accused of hiding from authorities was a not-insubstantial sum ($500,000.00 USD) placed in an Austrian safety deposit box. This money, a loan from Forum Gallery, was set aside by Nerdrum as security to compensate potential dissatisfied collectors whose paintings had begun to melt and run due to the artist's use of an inferior painting medium of his own making.

What brought Nerdrum to the attention of the Oslo tax authorities was the business journal Dagens Næringsliv, which reported in their April 2002 issue that the artist had made a total of 120 million NOK in American sales during the previous twenty years. Nerdrum was audited, and was found to have not reported 14,029,150 NOK during the fiscal years 1998-2002. The Tax Office finalized their decision on October 3, 2010, and Nerdrum has since paid all back-taxes the government felt it was owed.

On February 18, 2011, Nerdrum was criminally indicted for gross tax fraud for not paying tax on millions of krone in income, and for hiding money from the government. (It should be noted that the Tax Office and the prosecutors in the criminal case do not agree on the amount of income Nerdrum is accused of not reporting). The two-year prison sentence was determined by a Criminal Court Judge, after Nerdrum's attorneys failed to make the artist's case. The attorneys are now attempting to appeal the judge's decision.

In order for Nerdrum to have been convicted of "gross" tax fraud, it seems that several factors must have been proven by the prosecutor's office. First, the amount of income not reported must have exceeded 1 million NOK. Second, the evasion must have been conducted in a way which made it difficult for the government to discover. Nerdrum's two-year sentence was more severe than usual, and the increased punishment was based on the large amount of money involved, the fact that the evasion took place over several years, and on the "considerable labor" Nerdrum took to hide his income.

What is interesting here is that the "considerable labor" Nerdrum is accused of taking to hide money refers mainly to the cash placed in the Austrian safety deposit box. Of the amount Nerdrum is accused of not reporting, the cash in that box represented only 5%. This means not much effort was put into hiding 95% of the unpaid income.

Nerdrum claims that the money in the Austrian safety deposit box was a loan from Forum Gallery, and as such, was not his money, but theirs. It was not accrued through the sale of his paintings, and therefore was not income. The money was to be held to compensate collectors for damaged paintings. Prior to this loan, Forum Gallery was reimbursing clients though proceeds set aside from new sales of Nerdrum's works. The loan was requested by Nerdrum for two reasons: firstly, he expected a Norwegian collector to soon demand his money back, and the artist wanted to handle the refund quickly and quietly himself; secondly, he was concerned that Forum Gallery, like so many other galleries in New York City at that time, would claim bankruptcy, and that he would never see any of the income withheld by the gallery. It was in a way, an insurance policy. Nerdrum claims to have returned the money to the gallery in 2002, and the gallery then paid that money back to Nerdrum, which seems to indicate that the money was now to be considered clearly as income (it is assumed that the money was considered part of the funds originally set aside for reparations - some held by the gallery in the USA, and some by Nerdrum in Europe). Unfortunately, the court did not agree with Nerdrum's explanation of the money in the safety deposit box.

Why the money was not put safely in escrow is anyone's guess.

Whether or not it is believed Nerdrum tried to hide millions of dollars in income from Norway's tax authorities, it does seem that the judgment against him is unusually harsh, and quite difficult for an artist to endure. According to friends of Nerdrum, the sentence handed down precludes the artist from painting during his two year incarceration. In the Norwegian penitentiary system, where convicted murderers and rapists in Halden Prison have access to private trainers, art studios, specialty cooking classes, and a professional sound studio, it seems unimaginable that a painter found guilty of tax fraud would be denied similar opportunities, but apparently, prisoners in Norway are not allowed to practice business while behind bars. For Nerdrum, who, for a living, paints, writes plays and books, makes films, etc., this means creative outlets would be, for all intents and purposes, closed to him (any creative work he produced, if he were allowed to produce at all, during his sentence would likely be confiscated, as he would not be allowed to profit from such work produced in jail, even after his release).

In the Case Law used to determine the period of prison stay for Nerdrum, a verdict was cited in which a cab service owner who withheld an amount from the government similar to Nerdrum's, was sentenced to two years and one month in prison. Though he was likely denied the possibility of running his company from behind bars, the company was likely still in business during his incarceration, and still earning the prisoner profits.

The case is a difficult and emotional one, and has affected the many students who have benefitted from Nerdrum's training. The man they know is generous and highly moral, and that the government of Norway would find Nerdrum guilty of such crimes is unimaginable.

Alison Malafronte, the senior editor at American Artist magazine, has explored Nerdrum's situation in the current issue of the magazine. She has written an excellent article which gives friends, fellow-artists, and former students the opportunity to express their feelings about Nerdrum's case. Graciously, Malafronte has allowed the article to be reprinted here. I encourage you to read it.

To learn more about the case, please visit www.freeoddnerdrum.com.

On August 3, 2011internationally acclaimedpainter Odd Nerdrum wassentenced to two years inprison by a local court in Oslo,Norway, on counts of tax evasiontotaling more than $2 million.The verdict started a frenzy ofmedia activity from the artisticcommunity, with Nerdrumsupporters rallying around theartist through Facebook, blogs,petitions, exhibitions, andonline groups. Thecollective indignationat the prison sentencewas palpable—and althoughseveral artists weredetermined toprove the chargeserroneous, it was the prospectof Nerdrum not beingpermitted to paint duringhis two-year sentence thatignited the greatest levels ofempathetic response from hiscontemporaries. “The work ofOdd Nerdrum is a gift to a worldmuch in need of culture,” statedprofessional portraitist andStudio Incamminati founderNelson Shanks. “To in any wayinhibit or prevent his work isa crime against humanity andshould be condemned. No courtis above this reproach.”

The tax-evasion investigationof Nerdrum began in 2002,with Norwegian authoritiesstating that from April 1999 toApril 2003 the artist failed toreport income from businesstransactions in the United Statestotaling $2,530,738. Of thatamount, Nerdrum put more than$400,000 in a safe-deposit boxin Austria, causingthe Norwegiangovernment tosuspect that the artistwas intentionallyhiding money.According toNerdrum, the sumwas set aside because,from 1983 to 1989,he had experimentedwith a new mediumand made close to 40 pictureswith this method. In the 1990s,the fugitive mixture began tobreak down, causing the paintto drip. Forum Gallery, in NewYork City—which representedNerdrum at the time—startedreceiving complaints fromclients that the paintingswere deteriorating. As a wayto prepare for the imminentrequests for compensation,Nerdrum took out a loan fromForum Gallery and put thatmoney aside, intending to eitherreimburse his clients or repaintthe pictures. As quoted in theEnglish translation of the courtcase: “Odd Nerdrum did not atany point consider the sum ashis money, rather it was ForumGallery’s money, thatlay in a ‘limbo’ depositin Norway for potentialreimbursement.” Themoney was later moved toAustria.

Although most of us are notin a position to dig too deeplyinto the legalities of the case,there are three main pointsof contention that seem to besurfacing among supporters:First, many feel the Norwegianstate has been decidedlyunfair and intentional in itsnegative portrayal of Nerdrumover the years and has madeconcerted efforts to ostracizeand silence him, even beforethe investigation began. Second,many people claim that theChase bank account in NewYork through which Nerdrumallegedly transferred two largesums of money is nonexistent.According to Odd’s wife TuridSpildo, Nerdrum never had a bankaccount in New York. And last, allseem to agree that, irrespectiveof the verdict on tax evasion, notallowing Nerdrum to paint is adeliberate attack on his artisticfreedom. “Perhaps the Nerdrumcase offers an obvious opportunityto realize how unproductive it isto put creative people in jail, whenthe case could have been solved byeconomic settlement,” wrote BjørnLi, the CEO of The NerdrumInstitute in an article recentlypublished in Scandinavia’s leadingart magazine KUNST. “And whena prison sentence entails thatour greatest painter be deprivedof his brush and colors—thatis, he will be deniedto paint—I think thesentence is grotesqueand repulsive.”

In an effort to expressour support of OddNerdrum and sympathyfor his sentence, American Artist isallowing several of his colleagues,former pupils, and compatriots tovoice their opinions throughoutthis article. It is encouraging tosee the outpouring of supportfrom the many people to whomNerdrum has offered guidance,friendship, and mentorship overthe years, during what has surelybeen one of the most trying timesof the artist’s career.

__________

JOAKIM ERICSSON

Professional painter, academicdirector of the Mölndal, Swedenbranch of The Florence Academyof Art

I find it deeplyupsettingto see howNorway treatsnot only theirbest painterof all timebut also oneof the bestpainters whoever walkedthe face of the earth. What Odd Nerdrumhas accomplished in his work, andthe inspiration he provides paintersworldwide, has no comparison.

I believe that the motivation behindthe Norwegian judicial system’s verdictis this: Independence is the state’sworse fear, and Nerdrum’s financialand artistic success outside of theireconomic structure is considered athreat. Odd Nerdrum is a phenomenonthat challenges the consensusand the sheep-minded mentality thatpervades the contemporary art world,and therefore must be “dealt with.” Ialso think this trial is about sending amessage to everyone else who aspiresto have the kind of independenceNerdrum has achieved.

I will not even bother speculatingwhether Nerdrum is guilty of taxevasion, as that is not the point andway outside my expertise. Although,for the record, I don’t believe thatthe charges are just. Still, for thegovernment to not be satisfied with afine, but instead sentence him to twoyears in prison with no possibility ofpainting, is completely outrageous. Itis a worse crime to keep a painter likeOdd Nerdrum from working than it isto accidently (if at all) not pay enoughtaxes. The Norwegian state is alreadyone of the richest in the world, andseeing their greed and how they treata national icon is truly a tragedy.

__________

RICHARD THOMAS SCOTT

Professional painter, former pupil ofOdd Nerdrum

The OddNerdrum I knowis not the man Isee portrayed inthe Norwegianpress, the manwhose wordsthey censor andtwist. No, theman I know hasfreely given hisgreat knowledge to thousands of students,has inspired millions with his empatheticpaintings, has spent his life fighting forhuman dignity. The man I know rescuedme from homelessness. I don’t understandwhy they demonize him, but perhaps Iunderstand their misdirected anger.

I must say that Norway has committeda grave injustice. Let’s be clear: the chargeis not that he didn’t pay taxes. He paid thetaxes, and the court acknowledged this.The charge is that he intentionally hidmoney. Of this he is not guilty! We mustremember the gravity of the situation:more than 36 massive canvases that hehad painted with experimental techniquesliterally melted. He heroically repaintedthem and offered refunds, which was theonly honorable solution. Odd spent 20years paying for an honest mistake thatany of us could have made.

Yet, the court convicted him basedupon a nonexistent account at Chasebank, inflated numbers, and decades-oldconjecture. They will not let him paint,though the musician Varg Vikerneswas convicted for murder and burningchurches and was allowed to release twoalbums from prison. The only explanationI see for such an unprecedented punishmentis that the court has made a politicalruling and not a judicial one.

Some blame rests on the unfortunatetiming of Odd’s case, coming just aftersuch a great tragedy [the July 22, 2011attacks on one of Oslo’s government buildingsand the attendees a youth camp onthe island of Utøya]. That an atmosphereof the most profound grief may create sucha distortion of perception is only human.But it is not acceptable. We must lookback, in our later clarity, and resolve therash decisions we’ve made in our blindgrief. This is what it means to be just.

__________

DANIEL GRAVESProfessional painter, founder and academicdirector of The Florence Academy of Art

Whether or not Odd Nerdrum committed taxevasion is something I’ll leave to the Norwegianauthorities, but I would hope that whatevercrime they say he’s committed fits the punishmenthe’s been given. The two-year prisonsentence without the chance to paint seemsextremely harsh, especially when you look around the world and seedeliberate criminal acts and conspiracies receiving far less punishment.In response to this sentence, all of us artists feel a sense of camaraderieand want to rally around Odd in support of all the wonderful things he’scontributed to art, culture, and the education of young people.

__________

ALEXEY STEELEProfessional painter, founder ofClassical Underground

I still rememberthe enormousimpact OddNerdrum’sNamegivers hadon me afterleaving the SovietUnion andarriving in theUnited States inthe early 1990s.

Consumed with trying to figure out therealist tradition’s place in a modern society,I saw his work as bright examples of theextraordinary possibilities available in thislong-neglected art form. They still are.

The recent campaign by the Norwegiangovernment against this influentialvisionary, a cultural icon and one of thetrue masters, amounts to nothing morethan a governmental purging of intellectualindependence. The glaring disconnectbetween the severity of punishment andincriminated actions, the questionable evidenceand deeply flawed judicial processthat would never stand the scrutiny of theU.S. judicial system all smacks of Stalin’sinfamous show trials. For the Norwegiangovernment to throw the full wrath ofits fury on Nerdrum while premeditatedglobal banking crimes go unpunished isshameful, unconscionable, and despicable.

Odd Nerdrum is a true artist, and trueartists can never be silenced.

__________

BRANDON KRALIKProfessional painter, former pupil ofOdd Nerdrum

Odd Nerdrumand I have beenfriends for morethan 10 years,and he hasshown nothingbut integrity,respect, andgenerosity tome and everyonewith whomI have seen him interact. Recently, just daysbefore his trial, we took a drive from Paristo Sweden together to visit Rembrandt andtalk along the way about painting. Sittingalong the banks of the Trave in Lübeck,Germany, having breakfast with Odd wasa more concise lesson in history than anycollege course.

We should remember that Odd workedtirelessly for many years to rediscover thesecrets of making beautiful pictures. Hedid this against the current of the acceptedartistic expression of our time and withoutthe benefit of academies or teachers whocould help him. When he “discovered” amedium that was wonderfully creamy, rich,and luminous he did what most any of uswould have done: He used it.

It would be difficult to know what to dowhen many years later this medium provedto be flawed, and it’s easy to criticizewhatever choice was made to makeamends. Leonardo’s Last Supper suffersfrom the experimentation of a master aswell. The truth is that Odd did what hefelt was best, and that was to keep thecustomers satisfied. To do this he repaintedpictures and had the gallery set asidemoney in the event of future claims. He haspaid his taxes, and it has become clear thatis not the issue that has placed him on thisprecipice, but rather an impetus to pushhim over the edge by nervous authorities.

Odd has been an inspiration for all of uswho wish to paint like the Old Masters. Hehas led the way through the forest andleft us a trail. To be imprisoned for simplygoing against the flow, for trying to makethings right, should not be the reward for alifetime of generosity and brilliant achievement.The court’s decision is one thatneeds to rightfully be overturned.

Adrian Gottlieb's Verdaccio Technique

2012-01-01T23:55:00.000-05:00

Anticipation
oil on belgian linen
26 X 20 inches

California-based artist Adrian Gottlieb has always been gracious in sharing his knowledge of painting. His original website was filled with information he had amassed during his period of study at the Florence Academy of Art, and included recipes and procedures for making higher-quality and more archivally-sound materials than were then commonly available on the market. For those seeking education in traditional painting techniques, his website was a treasure trove of instruction (much of this information has now been transferred to the website dedicated to Gottlieb's Atelier).

In October of 2010, Gottlieb further shared his methods in an article which appeared in The Artist's Magazine. Written by Daniel Brown, the article focussed on Gottlieb's verdaccio technique, and also explored the artist's feelings behind the psychology of the painted portrait. Portions of the article were reprinted online at the Artist's Network, and the following excerpts are from that site.

1. "After I do a drawing and color study, I draw in paint, working on top of a warm imprimatura (first layer, the underpainting) that is closest to burnt umber in color and actually rather dark in value. I try for the color/value of the imprimatura to be the approximate color/value of the shadows of my main subject. When the imprimatura is fully dried, I draw in a similar color."

(For this demonstration, Gottlieb used a heavy linen canvas primed with five layers of acrylic gesso.)

imprimatura - Italian for first paint layer; the initial stain of color painted on a ground and left visible in areas over subsequent transparent layers; usually made with an earth color like burnt umber.

2. "In this step I build up the piambura, or white base, thinly so that the finished painting will have a luminous and translucent effect. It’s important that I create a good value relationship and blueprint of the form right from the beginning."

(Gottlieb uses mongoose and bristle filbert brushes from Rosemary & Co.. His medium is a mixture of sun-thickened oil and Canadian balsam. For oiling out, he uses copal retouch varnish.)

piambura - the lead white base that gives faces their luminosity.

3. "The Verdaccio technique, which uses a verdaccio layer is particularly advantageous for a bright figure against a relatively dark background. I fully model the forms, using temperature variations (cool and warm) between blue-greens and reds. I keep the painting too light (in value) so when I glaze the piece, the tone will fall back down."

(For the verdaccio technique, Gottlieb recommends his students use Sinopia and Chrome Oxide Green from Blue Ridge Oil Colors. He also suggests using permanent rose from Winsor & Newton, and Indian yellow from Schmincke Mussini.)

verdaccio - is a style of underpainting, which uses green-grey colours to establish values for later layers of paint. The technique is renowned for being particularly effective when painting flesh tones. As such, it was popular amongst Renaissance artists, and Leonardo da Vinci used verdaccio underpainting in his masterpiece, the Mona Lisa.

Portrait of Gregg
oil, 26 X 20 in.

4. "You can see the results of the primary and secondary glazes, executed in thin layers, using lakes of color that are similar in degree of transparency and tint. I then apply straight color to work out the exact color notes and establish the relationship between figure and ground in Portrait of Gregg (oil, 26×20)."

(On his personal website, Gottlieb lists his color palette as the following colors: lead white, lead tin yellow, yellow ochre, vermilion, transparent red oxide, pyrol ruby red, cobalt blue, transparent sepia, olive green, and ivory black. When mixing his colors, Gottlieb limits the number of source colors to four or less, and never mixes his colors directly on the canvas. The student materials list on Gottlieb's Atelier website goes into much greater detail.)

---------------------------------------------

The piambura stage of Gottlieb's paintings shows the tonal sensitivity the artist has, and are so beautiful, that many of his portraits are left at this level of finish.

Piambura of Danni
oil on Belgian linen
20 X 16 in.

Piambura of Heather #3
oil on Belgian linen
20 X 16 in.

Piambura of Heather #1
oil on Belgian linen
20 X 16 in.

Piambura of Heather #2
oil on Belgian linen
20 X 16 in.

Piambura of Heather #4
oil on Belgian linen
20 X 16 in.

Piambura of Heather #5
oil on Belgian linen
20 X 16 in.

Max Ginsburg: New DVD and a Book-Signing

2011-12-29T20:50:00.000-05:00

Streamline Publishing, the parent company behind Fine Art Connoisseur and Plein air Magazine, has announced the upcoming release of a new documentary on artist Max Ginsburg. The four DVD set, titled Max Ginsburg: The Legacy of an American Painter, features six hours of content, including interviews led by Peter Trippi and Eric Rhoads, a slideshow of the artist's work, a walkthrough of Ginsburg's recent retrospective at the The Butler Institute of American Art, and a painting demonstration by Ginsburg. The price is $127, but if ordered before the release date (January 31, 2012), a $30 discount will be applied to the order. Please visit www.ginsburgvideo.com for more information.

Also coming up this January, Max Ginsburg will be offering a lecture, followed by a book-signing, at The Art Students League of New York. The event will take place at 7 PM on January 9th in the Phyllis Harriman Mason Gallery. Admission is free.

Ryan S. Brown: The Loneliness of Waiting

2011-12-21T23:15:00.000-05:00

Ryan S. Brown
The Loneliness of Waiting (2009)
oil 40 X 70 in.

On his website, Utah-based artist, Ryan S. Brown, offers in-progress images for his painting, The Loneliness of Waiting, along with the following description:

The idea for this painting came at a time when I was experiencing some frustration with some goals I had set for myself that relied on other people to help them come to fruition. I felt I had done as much as I could to achieve the goals and I was left waiting to see if my efforts would yield the hoped for results. That is not a comfortable position for me to be in. During this time I made attempts to voice this frustration to a few friends and family, only to realize that it was impossible to explain to them what I was feeling. The thought came to me how lonely it can be to wait for things. In my case, the realization of goals. But for others it could be news from family, acceptance into school, a phonecall from someone you love, etc. So I hired this model, who always had so much expression in her face, and we searched around Florence together for the right setting to stage this painting. We settled on this spot in front of Casa di Dante in the heart of Florence. It was the perfect setting to isolate her and narrate that lonely sense. The old well anchored the painting perfectly and the mass of empty space around her isolated her in just the right way. And of course the emotion in her face was exactly what I was looking for.

Brown received his training at Brigham Young University, the Florence Academy of Art, and in an apprenticeship with artist William Whitaker. Several years ago, Brown founded The Center for Academic Study and Naturalist Painting in order to re-establish and promote the high standards of process-based art. CAS offers weekly and monthly classes, as well as workshops with representatives of some of the other top Academies in the US and Europe.

Katie Liddiard
Winged Victory
charcoal on toned paper
21 X 16 cm

One of Brown's students, Katie Liddiard, has just won a scholarship to continue her studies at CAS from the Art Renewal Center in New Jersey. Congratulations Katie!

Study for Waiting, 2008 (Casa di Dante, Florence, Italy)
oil 16 X 28 in.

After several preliminary sketches, Brown felt comfortable "window-shading," or working the
painting to completion section by section.

When Brown realized that the rows of stone blocks had begun to go askew, he used strings to help
re-establish the lines of perspective.

From Russia with Love

2011-12-20T00:40:00.000-05:00

After the recent post on 200 Russian Painters, artist - and self-appointed arbiter of machismo in art - David Gluck, recommended to me a site featuring the student work being produced at the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, Ilya Glazunov in Moscow. The curriculum looks clearly laid out through the student samples, and though to some, the courses may look antiquated, for me, this is exactly what I would have hoped to learn in school - but did not. My university art training was nothing like this.

My apologies to the students; I cannot decipher the Cyrillic alphabet, nor do I trust the answers attained through online Russian translations, otherwise I would credit the few attributed works. (The third to last is by Oksana Pavlova, an artist who also appeared on the 200 Russian Painters site).

[December 20, 2011, 12:35 PM EST Correction- I originally listed the artworks as being created by students at the Repin Academic Institute of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. I have since learned how truly awful I am at navigating Russian websites. Though the Repin Art Academy is producing tremendous works also, these paintings are actually by students at the Glazunov Academy.]

Professor V.A. Mogilevtsev, a leading teacher at the Repin Institute has put together several books on the methods of training at the school with examples of student work. The books are available from Amazon.com. (Fundamentals of Drawing is in Russian, but purchasers get access to a PDF copy of the book translated into English. Academic Drawings and Sketches is published in both Russian and English; I assume this means side-by-side in the same book. Fundamentals of Painting has yet to be released.)

Gallery Nucleus in California also offers books on the student work from the Repin Institute. They are softcover, and imported from China. They also sell out quickly. Sign up at their site to be notified when a new shipment arrives.

Casey Baugh: Step-by-Step

2011-12-18T14:15:00.001-05:00

Casey Baugh - Dusk - 9 X 14 in. oil on panel

This past summer, artist Casey Baugh began a blog so that he could keep his admirers up-to-date on his current projects and activities. So far, his emphasis has been on offering beautiful, in-progress photos of his recently completed paintings and drawings. Only one set of photographs, that of an older work, includes descriptions by the artist, but this gives a good indication of what to expect from his "art-unlayered" series, a parallel project by Baugh which video-documents his work with hi-res photos and full audio commentary. These video tutorials (4 in all) are available for download from Baugh's site for $15 each. There you can also watch a free sample of his self-portrait video before deciding to purchase the other lessons.

Dusk - Step 1

Dusk - Step 2

Dusk - Step 3

Dusk - Step 4

Dusk - Step 5

Dusk - 9 X 14 in. oil on panel

Ana - Step 1

Ana - Step 2

Ana - Step 3

Ana - Step 4

Ana - 14 X 20 in. oil

No More Common Dress - Step 1

No More Common Dress - Step 2

No More Common Dress - Step 3

No More Common Dress - Step 4

No More Common Dress - Step 5

No More Common Dress - Step 6

No More Common Dress - Step 7

No More Common Dress - Step 8

No More Common Dress 24 X 16 in. oil

No More Common Dress - detail

200 Russian Painters

2011-12-18T01:40:00.000-05:00

Victor Matorin - Holy Pious Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow 2004

A few weeks ago, illustrator Dan Dos Santos posted a link to an online album of 200 Russian Painters on the blog, Muddy Colors. Tonight, I finally had the chance to visit the site, and as Dan said, "the site is a major time sink." Several of the artists are more familiar in the West, such as Repin, Kramskoy, Levitan, Aivazovsky, Shishkin, and Serov, but there are many more who will probably be new to most visitors, including contemporary painters Oksana Pavlova and Victor Matorin.

The more-than-nine-hundred paintings on the site are a great reminder of how the internet has made artwork more globally accessible. Have fun browsing!

Ivan Shishkin - Among the Open Valley... 1883

Ilya Repin - Portrait of Vladimir Stasov 1883

Andrew Belts - Separation of Spit(?) and other paintings

Oksana Pavlova - Heart of Russia 2004

Ilya Repin - Leo Tolstoy Barefoot 1901

Alexander Makovsky - Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna

Ivan Kramskoy - Yuri Fyodorovich Samarin 1878

Ivan Aivazovsky - The Rainbow 1873

Ivan Kulikov - In a Farmhouse

Constantine Kryzhitsky - Lake

Color Palettes: Thomas Sully (1783 - 1872)

2011-12-15T21:40:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Klapp (Anna Milnor), 1814
oil on canvas
36¹⁄₄ X 28 ¹⁄₈ in.

Variously known as "The American Sir Thomas Lawrence," and "The American Patriarch of Painting," the English-born artist, Thomas Sully, was one of America's greatest portrait painters. Of the 2631 paintings Sully created in his seventy-year career, more than 2000 were portraits¹, including pictures of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, the Marquis de Lafayette, John Quincy Adams, James K. Polk, and the then newly-crowned Queen Victoria (1837). The vast majority of these works are in collections in the United States.

In 1819, Sully began taking on students, teaching them to paint free of charge. Due to health and time restrictions, he was eventually forced to limit the number of students to those who were already skilled at drawing and who could afford an annual tuition of $500. In the 1850s, however, as Sully's domination of the portraiture field began to wane, his thoughts once again returned to teaching on a larger scale. During this time, he began an art instruction book, but by the time of his death, twenty years later, the manuscript had yet to be delivered to any publisher.

The following information is from that book, Hints to Young Painters and the Process of Portrait-Painting, which Sully revised in 1871, and which was finally published posthumously in 1873. Though trained as a miniaturist, Sully briefly studied with Benjamin West, Sir Thomas Lawrence, and Gilbert Stuart, whom Sully credited with having the greatest impact upon his career; it is likely that the color palette Sully recommends in the book is the same he learned from Stuart in the three weeks he studied with the man.

Martha Randolph Jefferson

When a person calls on you to make arrangements for the intended portrait, observe the general manner, etc., so that you may determine the attitude you had best adopt. The first sitting may be short, as pencil sketches on paper, of different views of the person, will be sufficient to determine the position of the portrait.

Mary Ann Heide Norris, 1830
oil on canvas
30⁵⁄₁₆ X 25¹⁄₄ in.

At the next sitting make a careful drawing of the person on a gray canvas (kept for that particular purpose). It should be of middle tint, made of white, and black mixed with white: it must not shine. This study must be made in charcoal, with its proper effect of shadow relieved with white chalk, using for the middle tint the color of the canvas. The drapery, also - if time will allow- should be put in. I find that two hours is long enough to detain the sitter. I seldom exceed that time; and six sittings of two hours each is the time I require. When alone, begin the portrait from memory, fix the canvas by means of the strips of measurement from the top of the canvas and the other marks of distances; if the person is tall or short, place the head accordingly. The drawing made from the person in charcoal and chalk will enable you to paint in the effect of the picture with burnt umber on a white ground (some prefer a colored ground). Paint freely, as if you were using water-colors, not too exact, but in sketchy manner.

Andrew Jackson, 1845
oil on canvas

In this process I use a mixture of drying-oil and spirits of turpentine in equal portions, to moisten my brush as occasion requires. (In all painting I use only this mixture.) This preparation may take two days to dry. Sometimes I hasten this effect by placing my picture in the sun, sheltered from the dust, by the window, and in winter I expose the picture to the fire. I recommend the use of large brushes.

In the next sitting tints are to be used, and all inaccuracies corrected; while, of course, the likeness is to be made as close and characteristic as possible.

The following tints I use in the next painting:

These were the colors used throughout Sully's process, however, other colors were added during
different steps, including burnt umber, asphaltum, and madder lake. In later stages, Sully also
mixed several tints of burnt sienna, ultramarine blue, and vermilion, for ease of refining colors
in the final layer.

The principal colors from which these tints are made are white, yellow ochre (by the way, this color will not keep under water)†, ultramarine (or permanent blue), vermilion, Indian red, raw umber, ivory-black and burnt umber. These are sold in compressible tubes.

In the use of burnt umber in the first painting, the color in some places, being much diluted with the liquid mixture, is inclined to run. To prevent this, I place the work horizontally for an hour or two.

As I have previously mentioned, in the next sitting from life, tints are to be used. See the "Palette" on preceding page.

Dr. Edward Hudson, 1810

oil on canvas

29 X 23¾ in.

Manner of proceeding with the first coloring: Cover all the forehead with tint No. 2, and use No. 1 to increase the light on such parts as require it. The first light shadow will be Nos. 2 and 3, mixed; make the blue tint, No. 3, more pure on the temple. The white of the eye with Nos. 2 and 3 and, perhaps, a little white. If it be a blue eye, use black and No. 3. In a delicate complexion the mixture of 2 and 3 may extend to the lower part of the face. No. 11 will increase the strength of shadows, and No. 10 will increase it further; No. 9, ditto, particularly where the shadows are of a cool tint. Perhaps the shadows in some places will require a warmer hue; then 13 and 12 will be found useful (they have a little burnt terra sienna in the raw umber tints). Having adjusted the shadows, a little vermilion and white may be scratched on the cheek and on the lips.

Mrs. George Lingen, 1842
oil on canvas
28½ X 24¾ in. (oval)

The drapery and background should now be painted. These may be executed from the sketch made from life. If it is a large picture where more of the person is seen, the drapery must be painted from an exact study made from the person. The color of the background should be either darker or lighter than the head or drapery. In the former painting the hair must be painted, the color of which must be a matter of judgment, as hair is of so many different colors that no rule can be offered. Burnt umber is an excellent color for that purpose; and Vandyke brown, for dark shadows, is excellent, but it is a bad dryer, and I have reluctantly abandoned the use of it.

We come now to the sixth and last sitting. In painting this, the same palette of tints is used, with the addition of asphaltum and madder lake. These are glazing colors, and may be used to darken and improve the shadows of the flesh tints. The hair and drapery may be glazed with the mixture of asphaltum and madder lake. To the bottom of the burnt terra sienna add two tints, also to the blue tint and vermilion. These tints may be employed here and there in improving the color.

The Student, 1839
oil on canvas
23 ½ X 19½ in.

The complexion is part of the likeness. The tints which I have arranged are for a light complexion; I merely strengthen the tints, and add Indian red to the vermilion, for dark complexions.

The last operation of the painter is to varnish the picture.

Suffer the picture to dry for about four or five weeks. Should it remain without varnishing for years, it will not suffer for the want of it; it will only look dull, and some colors will not show their effect.²

† "Some of the tints and colors that are left may be put away for the following day by means of a small saucer. Place this in a deep plate and cover it with water; by this method the colors will keep a day or two."³ Obviously, Sully excluded yellow ochre from this method of preserving colors.

¹ Thomas Sully (1783-1872), as retrieved December 15, 2011 from [www.worcesterart.org/Collection/Early_American/Artists/sully/biography/index.html].
² Thomas Sully, Hints to Young Painters and the Process of Portrait-Painting, (J.M. Stoddart & Co., Philadelphia, 1873), pp. 15-22.
³ Sully, p. 13.

Safety in Numbers

2011-12-12T23:05:00.000-05:00

Frederick Carl Frieseke
The Garden Parasol (c. 1910)
oil on canvas, 57¹⁄₈ X 77 in.

In the American colony of painters in Giverny, France, there were strong beliefs that all work should be done directly from Nature, and that the subject of all paintings, no matter the objects filling the canvas, was always Light. What this meant for the small community, which included artists such as Frederick Frieseke, Richard Miller, Lawton Parker, Guy Rose, Karl Anderson, Edmund Graecen, Louis Ritman, and Karl Buehr, was that they were all painting out-of-doors on the same sunny days. The advantage they had as a group was that, working alongside each other, they could share resources - from models to props. Often, familiar elements, if not familiar poses, will be seen amongst the work produced by these artists during their time in Giverny.

Karl Buehr
Under the Parasol (c. 1910)
oil on canvas 36½ X 28½ in.

Richard Miller
Afternoon Tea (1910)
distemper, 39½ X 32 in.

Many of the Giverny Group painted on the property of Frederick Frieseke, who, following in the footsteps of his next-door neighbor, Claude Monet, designed his property to be used in his artwork†. Certain trees, flower beds, lawn furniture (painted "Monet Green"), and reflecting pools can be found again and again in the works of all these American painters from this place and period. The interior of Frieseke's house was also decorated for use as painting backdrops, with its walls of lemon yellow, doors of emerald green, and and curtains and furniture covers of densely-patterned floral designs.¹ (Frieseke preferred not to paint in his studio, and on gray or rainy days, would reluctantly paint indoors, in his home, relying only on the natural light coming through his windows).

Karl Buehr
Young Lady with her Sunshade Under the Trees
oil on canvas 36 X 28 in.

Richard Miller
Summer Reverie (1914)
36 X 29 in.

†(To be fair, Frieseke was not the gardener that was Monet. Frieseke had little knowledge of flowers, and never did detailed paintings of flowers, preferring instead to paint the effects of light encountered when viewing larger beds. It was Frieseke's wife who planted and maintained the garden which featured so prominently in the Giverny Group's paintings).²

Karl Buehr
Repose (c. 1915)

Richard Miller
Reverie (c. 1913)
45 X 58 in.

When the Americans vacated Giverny just prior to the outbreak of World War I, many returned home to establish new artist colonies, finding they preferred the advantages of working in a community of artists, rather than working alone. Many also continued the tradition of designing their homes with less attention being paid to living comfort, than to the home's potential use as a painting background.

Richard Miller's work on his Provincetown home earned it an article
in the January 1937 issue of The American Home magazine.

On the Nightstand

2011-12-09T17:25:00.000-05:00

Florence Fuller - Inseparables
from the catalog to the exhibit The Edwardians: Secrets and Desires

Each night I risk my life by falling asleep with a towering stack of books close to my head. I have done my best to find other places to keep my current art books of interest, but my cases are all full, and until I can find space for more shelves, I will continue my game of library Jenga™ here on the nightstand. At least the stack is not quite so high as the last time I commented on the books featured in my bedtime reading. Here are 10 of those books:

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1). Maxfield Parrish by Coy Ludwig

I think this was the first art book I had purchased for myself, and I bought it during the first week of classes my freshman year of college. It must have been part of a warehouse find; it was one of a large stack of brand-new, 16 year-old books in the bookshop. When I picked it up, and leafed through the book, I had no idea who Parrish was, but there was something familiar about his work, and I loved having such images at hand.

At the time I found this book, it was the best available on Parrish. Since then, Alma Gilbert, an avid Parrish collector, has released several books on the artist which have better reproductions than does Ludwig's book from 1973. I do not know of another book on Parrish, however, that covers the artist's methods better than Ludwig's, and for that, it is invaluable.

A few years after purchasing the book, I learned that I was living only two blocks from Coy Ludwig. I called him up to discuss Parrish, but he said he remembered little from so many years ago, and besides, no one was still interested in Parrish. He was surprised I had even found a copy of the book. I wonder how surprised he was when it was reprinted a few years later.

Maxfield Parrish - Garden of Allah

After I was graduated, my family inherited my grandmother's piano from a cousin who no longer had space for it. We were also given a picture which had hung over the piano for decades, but which had been misplaced sometime in the '70s and had only recently resurfaced. It was Maxfield Parrish's Garden of Allah, a 1918 promotional print from Crane's Chocolates. Finally, it made sense why the artwork seemed so familiar, and why the book had struck such an immediate chord with me when I found it on the shelf.

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2). Max Ginsburg Retrospective

All monographs should be this good. The paintings are of course beautiful, and the images are large and plentiful and nearly all in color. Released to coincide with Ginsburg's retrospective shows at the Salmagundi Club and at The Butler Institute of American Art, the book features work from 1956 through 2010, including examples from his illustration career.

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3). The Man with the Easel of Horn: The Life and Works of Émile Friant - A NOVEL
by Norman Beaupré

Norman Beaupré became fascinated with the French artist Émile Friant after seeing the artist's painting La Douleur in the film Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (2008). Set in the historically accurate France of the late 1800s, the book is a fictionalized account of Friant's life based on the author's subsequent research. THERE ARE NO IMAGES IN THIS BOOK.

The author's inspiration: Émile Friant's La Douleur (1898)

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4). Émile Friant by Henri Claude

THIS IS THE BOOK THAT HAS THE IMAGES. Claude's book is the definitive work on Friant, and it contains beautiful images, many of which are not available online. The text is in French.

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5). L'École de Nancy: Peinture et Art nouveau by Jean-Paul Midant

Also written in French, this book features works by Émile Friant, Victor Prouvé, Albert Besnard, Eugène Carrière, Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret, Camille Martin, Jules-Alexis Muenier, Jean-François Raffaëlli, Auguste Rodin, and Henri Royer. This is a catalog to an exhibit organized by le musée des Beaux-Arts in 1999.

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6). The Life in the Studio by Nancy Hale

In this book, Nancy Hale, the daughter of artists Philip Hale and Lilian Westcott Hale, shares her memories of growing up in her parents' studios.

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7). Art on the Line: The Royal Academy Exhibitions at Somerset House 1780-1836
edited by Dr. David H. Solkin

An art history book which examines the importance of Somerset House, where London's Royal Academy of Arts held its annual exhibit for 57 years (1780-1836). This yearly event, and the space in which the art was shown, shaped British art during this period in more ways than one.

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8). Masters of American Illustration: 41 Illustrators and How They Worked by Fred Taraba

Coy Ludwig's book on Maxfield Parrish was not my only source for learning painting techniques while in college; my other source was the bi-monthly magazine Step-by-Step Graphics, which covered everything from choosing the right font for print ads to the methods of contemporary illustrators. Near the end of the magazine's run, as more and more articles focussed on digital work, a new feature was added to the back of each issue which instead dealt with the traditional techniques of the earlier generations of illustrators. This regular column, called "Methods of the Masters," was a great source of information and inspiration, and quickly became my favorite part of the magazine.

Though several writers contributed installments of "Methods of the Masters," Fred Taraba was responsible for the lion's share, providing articles on 41 different artists. This book is a compilation of Taraba's articles, revised, and with better reproductions than first appeared in Step-by Step Graphics.

Click here to see more samples from the book.

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9). George W. Lambert Retrospective: Heroes & Icons by Anne Gray

George Washington Lambert, the "Australian Sargent," is recognized as one of his country's finest figurative painters, and its greatest wartime artist. This is the catalog which accompanied the 2007 exhibit of the artist's work held at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

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10). The Edwardians: Secrets and Desires by Anne Gray

Also from the National Gallery of Australia, this catalog accompanied a show by the same name which ran in 2004 in both Canberra and Adelaide. It featured works by John Singer Sargent, George Lambert, Rupert Bunny, George Clausen, William Orpen, James McNeill Whistler, Stanhope Forbes, John Lavery, Alfred Munnings, Henry Scott Tuke, and many more.

The website for the exhibition is still online. Visit it here to see images from the show.

USA Distributor for Rosemary & Co. Brushes

2011-12-04T00:45:00.000-05:00

Just in time for the holidays, Joe Salamida has launched a website for his new mail-order business, Legacy Art Products. Currently, his online store only offers brushes, and just two lines at that, but both are quality handmade product lines from Rosemary & Co. of Great Britain.

The first style offered is Rosemary's Ivory synthetic brushes, which she describes as a fine imitation of a bristle brush, but whose "silky spring" does not leave the characteristic brush marks associated with the natural hair version. Rosemary designed these to be a "working tool for oil artists" - a brush that does not splay, keeps a good firm shape, can carry a good load of paint, and cleans out very well. It is a popular brush range which outsells its Chungking bristle counterparts by a ratio of 10:1.

The second style offered is Rosemary's Master's Choice Mongoose brushes, a natural-hair, brush line which has garnered fans throughout the United States. Mongoose hair offers a semi-firm stroke, which finishes velvety under a light touch. Its marks are distinctive, and the hairs are resilient and wear well. The Series 279 Long Flat is particularly popular, earning endorsements from Jeremy Lipking, Morgan Weistling, Tony Pro, and Richard Schmid,

To my knowledge, Legacy Art Products is currently the only American distributor for Rosemary & Co.'s brushes. At the current exchange rate, the brushes are slightly more expensive at Legacy, but the domestic shipping rate is cheaper than the cost of having small orders shipped here from overseas.

Legacy Art Products' shipping rates, based upon order totals, are as follows:

$0 - $50. = $6.50

$50. - $100. = $7.00

$100. - $200. = $10.00

$200. - $350. = 5% of total

above $350. - Please contact vendor.

Rosemary & Co. charges £7.00 to ship to the USA, no matter the order total.

To compare pricing, if one were to request three Series 279 Long Flat #4s from Leagcy, shipped to the USA, the cost of the order would be $35.75. Direct from Rosemary & Co. the same would currently total $39.24.

Salamida is also expecting to add handmade baltic birch palettes to the online store in the near future. Keep checking back at the Legacy Art Products site for new items.

Jeremy Lipking's Open Studio

2011-12-02T00:05:00.000-05:00

Joseph Todorovitch

This Saturday, artist Jeremy Lipking will be hosting an open house at his studio near Los Angeles. As part of the event, Lipking has invited several of his friends to also show recent paintings. These guest artists include Joseph Todorovitch, Quang Ho, Rose Frantzen, Casey Baugh, Michael Klein, Tony Pro, Alexey Steele, Logan Hagege, Glenn Dean, Ronald Lipking, Ignat Ignatov, Cody Erickson, Michelle Dunaway, Amy Lind, Nicholas Coleman, and Korin Faught. In addition to these works, there will also be pieces by Nicolai Fechin and Emile Friant on view.

For those unable to attend, Lipking has put together an ebook for the iPhone and iPad featuring the artworks from the showcase. It is available for free download here (free iBook app required).

Casey Baugh

Glenn Dean

Jeremy Lipking

The Open House will run from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM, this Saturday, December 3rd. For more information, contact Danielle Lipking.

Rose Frantzen

Winners of the 2nd Annual ACOPAL Competition

2011-11-30T22:55:00.000-05:00

Teresa Elliott
Deliverance
36 X 36 in.

The America China Oil Painters League (ACOPAL), has recently announced the winners of its second annual open competition. As this year's Grand Prize Winners, Teresa Elliott, Benat Iglesias, and David Gluck, have the possibility of having their paintings included in an exhibition of contemporary realism at the Beijing World Art Museum in September, 2012. In the meantime, Elliott and Iglesias will have their paintings featured in a show opening next month at Ohio's Butler Institute of Art with others of America's most highly regarded representational painters, including Jeremy Lipking, Michael Klein, Joseph Todorovitch, David Kassan, Daniel Sprick, Tony Ryder, Casey Baugh, Steven Assael, Nelson Shanks, Daniel Greene, Patricia Watwood, Robert Liberace, Christopher Pugliese, Burt Silverman, and Max Ginsburg. Unfortunately, Gluck's painting, The Trapper, was a last-minute submission, and it will not be sufficiently dry in time for hanging in the Butler show; a fourth-place winner, Peter Fiore, will have his painting in the American exhibition instead.

Benat Iglesias
The Louvre Project
60 X 65 in.

It is the purpose of ACOPAL to build a "creative and philosophical exchange between artists in the United States and those living in China. Exchange programs will be designed to allow American artists to travel to China to meet with their Chinese counterparts to share ideas, methods and techniques associated with realistic painting in oil. In turn, Chinese artists will come to America to do the same. Visiting artists from either side will conduct workshops, seminars and open forum discussion groups to advance the exchange of artistic endeavors in an amicable climate of 'East meets West.' Through this organization, exhibitions will be arranged (in America and China ) to showcase the best artists that each nation has to offer with the intent to promote the resurgence of Realistic painting in oil." (from the ACOPAL mission statement).

David Gluck
The Trapper
30 X 20 in.

The American exhibit of ACOPAL members, including this year's Grand Prize Winners, Elliott, Iglesias, and Fiore, will open on December 18th at The Butler Institute of Art in Youngstown, Ohio. It will run through January 22, 2012. The Artist's Reception will take place on the final day of the show, from 1:00-3:00 PM.

Peter Fiore
Winter Storm Clearing
30 X 40 in.

To see all 50 of this year's ACOPAL finalists, please visit the organization's website.

Technique: Scott E. Bartner (b. 1960)

2011-11-25T14:45:00.000-05:00

Scott E. Bartner
Portrait of Eva (2010)
44 X 31 cm.
oil on panel-mounted linen

Scott Bartner (b. 1960) is an American expatriate living and painting in the culturally important city of Maastricht in The Netherlands. Since 1993, when he moved to Maastricht and was finally able to fully devote his time to art, he has done commissioned portraits for society members throughout Europe and the United States. On Bartner's website, not only can examples of these portraits be found, but also step-by-step examples of the traditional painting method he uses to create his detailed works. Please visit his site to learn more about this artist, and to see more of his paintings.

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The following demonstration and descriptions are directly from Scott Bartner's website.

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Painting Technique

Writing about one's technique is a tricky business. No one portrait follows a standard formula, and to suggest that a successful painting can be created in a rigid step-by-step manner is quite ludicrous. Whatever individual method is adopted though, it is wise to have some sort of system. The following description is my system, described in the most general of terms:

Ground Preparation and Underdrawing

A panel or canvas is prepared with several thin layers of gesso, sanded between layers. The structure of the gesso, whether applied with a brush or by some other means, plays an important role in determining whether the portrait is painterly, or refined in appearance. A thin layer of burnt umber is laid down evenly as a ground and allowed to dry thoroughly. Working from a suitable photo, the head is modeled in thin layers of burnt umber with a fair amount of detail giving the illusion of light moving across the form from a single light source. Each layer is kept transparent even in the darkest shadowed areas.

Underpainting

Once the drawing is completely dry, the head is built up in combinations of transparent zinc white and opaque titanium white. The thickest areas of white are where the light strikes the figure directly. Conversely, the shadows are painted with transparent white over the brown underdrawing producing, bluish shadows. Varying the thickness of the white paint creates the form of the head as the light strikes it. The hair and the clothing are also painted in a similar way with emphasis on texture and light fall.

Glazing

When the underpainting is complete, transparent color is applied in thin layers first in the shadowed areas and then gradually to the lightest areas. Several layers of transparent color are applied to suggest the transparent nature of skin. If the shadows become too brown, then a thin layer of zinc white is re-applied, creating a bluish-area which is re-glazed when dry. In cases where the underpainting is not strong enough, the entire head will have to be repainted in white or "highed-up," and later re-glazed. A neutral background is laid in loosely, revealing the brownish-orange underpainting in places, giving more depth to the picture. The background is also glazed to strengthen the shadows, bring out the figure and soften contours.

This technique is not a forgiving one. It entails making a long series of correct decisions. Making corrections after glazing is difficult indeed. Considerable patience is required to work with layers that must completely dry before continuing. It is therefore understandable why few artists employ this exacting and time-consuming method.

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The Reference Photos

I work from photos taken myself. In this case I've made one enlargement of the subject's head, and a second overexposed image to better see her hair and the folds in her dark clothing. I already see a distortion problem with her left eye and (hopefully) will be able to correct it in my under-drawing. The shadow cast by her nose also bothers me--it's too triangular. Time to break out the art books for inspiration.

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The Panel

For this portrait I am using a "Mus" panel purchased from Peter van Ginkel in The Netherlands. I also use Max Howard "Realgesso" panels from Athens, Georgia. What I use depends on how rough the surface is and how loose I want the brush work to look. In this case I wanted a rougher surface to drag the brush on. The ground color is Pozzuoli Earth from Williamsburg Paints mixed with a little Old Holland Titanium white. I will make good use of this ground color as the portrait progresses.

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Under-drawing 1

I create my drawing using Old Holland Warm Sepia Extra. It allows me to get my half tones and shadows dark enough to support the paint that will go over it. I'm constantly looking in the mirror to check my drawing. If I can only get that eye in the right place!

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Under-drawing 2

Having created a strong under drawing, I'm ready for the most time intensive phase of this portrait--"highing-up" the under drawing in white paint. The purpose of an under-painting is to provide a solid structure, addressing tonal values without letting color get in the way. I've begun on the shadow side of her face because I wanted to deal with the distorted eye issue early on. I'm painting with a mixture of Titanium and Zinc white. More Zinc is added as I cover the darkest shadows.

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Under-painting 1

Highing-up the face gives me the opportunity to plan where I wish to direct the viewer's attention. I'll leave a hard edge above her right eye where her hair line meets the forehead. That part of the forehead will be built up thickly with visible brush work. I’ll also widen her right eye a bit in contrast to the photo where her left eye is wider. I’ve changed the shape of the shadow cast by her nose and will play with that area further. It's interesting to show lit form submerging into the shadow area. I’m using three whites at this stage: an opaque white (Titanium), a 50-50 mix (Zinc & Titanium), and a transparent white (Zinc).

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Under-painting 2

I'm continuing to build up the face to acquire a strong plasticity. I've also added color to the her eyes and touches of red in the cheeks and the lips. I'm toying with the idea of having her glance just past the viewer like Titian often did with his subjects.

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Under-painting 3

Today I blocked in the background. It is necessary to do this early on since the flesh tone will be influenced by what is next to it. I've attempted to leave the reddish-colored ground visible in places (see detail #1-A). Tonally speaking the background will darken moving from left to right, in contrast to the head going from light to shadow. This may be something of an artistic cliché but it is also an effective way to bring about form and space to the picture. The face has been further developed with attention to edges and paint thickness (detail #1-C). The contour of her face along the shadow side was softened to help her face turn the corner (detail #1-D). The nose shadow was re-shaped to run more parallel to the bridge of her nose as opposed to the more photographic-looking triangular shape found in the photo. The shadow fades as it reaches the tip of her nose (see detail #1-B). Her hair has been highed-up in a semi-transparent white. When I paint her hair, I want a little substance underneath to support the blackish paint especially in the lighter areas as indicated by the over-exposed reference photo above.

Under-painting 3 (detail #1)

Under-painting 3 (detail #2)

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Under-painting 4

Before I add color to her face, I try as a rule to get as much done with the head as possible. A first layer of warmish-black paint was applied over the under painting which did it’s job well; I was able to remove with a dry brush black paint in certain places creating believable highlights. When dry, I’ll apply a few more layers to develop the color and modeling a little more. The red hair band was also painted in using brushes and the edge of a palette knife. The trim of her dark sweater was blocked in quickly. It will eventually have a purplish-black appearance in contrast to the charcoal black color of her sweater.

Under-painting 4 (detail)

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Under-painting 5

At this point I’m focusing on the large masses. With regard to her sweater, an under-painting was first created. I’m now applying transparent black (warmed with rose madder), trying to capture the form and structure of the material. Her hair was further modeled the same way. Once these large masses have been completed, I’ll begin adding color to her face.

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Glazing

Instead of the black sweater she wore, I opted for a more purplish color which hopefully will compliment the flesh tone. I also brought the value of the background down a notch to emphasize the light on her face. Thus the colors/values around her face have been more-or-less established and I can begin to think about adding color to her face. Layers of transparent color consisting of burnt sienna, ultramarine blue, and permanent rose, are applied to the under-painting, and, while wet, I worked back into it re-establishing the lightest values with white paint. At this stage she’s still a little pale but I will wait until the paint has dried before continuing.

Glazing (detail)

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Finishing Up

As this portrait was developing, I realized the importance light played in creating a certain attractive plasticity. To accentuate this I added a shadow to her left. Also critical to the illusion of form were the shadows along her nose, her cheek, around the front of her neck, and on her blouse, cast by the tooth-like fringe of the sweater. I began the blouse by outlining the fringe with the transparent white or zinc white. I’ll build up the lighter areas with titanium white and perhaps a touch of yellow ochre to warm it up. (The blouse offset by her sweater will be the highest value contrast in the painting; I’ll spend some time playing with its shape.) Her belt below will probably be a reddish earth tone color. I’m still slowly adding color to her face without medium resulting in a stronger paint layer--and less nausea for the artist.

Finishing Up (detail #1)

Finishing Up (detail #2)

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Near Completion

On a sudden impulse I created a design of sorts along the blouse’s length which happily enhanced the exotic nature of this portrait. I recently mentioned to a friend that I saw these near-completed portraits as musical instruments needing tuning. That’s what I’ll be doing these next few days, tuning. The finished portrait will eventually be in the Portraits I section of this site. Thank you for following this demonstration.

Near Completion (detail #1)

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Portrait of Nazli Nikkels-Tassoudji, MD (2005) (detail)
50 X 35 cm., oil on panel

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Portrait of Junko (2009)
65 X 42 cm., oil on canvas

Video of Junko in Process

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Though Bartner is always experimenting with new pigments, his usual flesh palette consists of the following colors:

FOR FLESH VEILING
(a semi-opaque color lay-in in which the mixtures contain flake white)
Gamblin Burnt Sienna
Winsor & Newton Permanent Red
Zecchi Cobalt Blue

FOR OPAQUE FLESH
Old Holland or Williamsburg Yellow Ochre Light
Winsor & Newton Ivory Black
Robert Doak Terra Rosa
Zecchi Naples Yellow

Bartner uses whites manufactured by both Robert Doak and Old Holland.

His medium is a mixture of Oleogel, and Amber Butter Painting Medium, the latter made especially by James C. Groves. The Amber Butter contains walnut oil, and amber and fir resins, which, in combination, help to congeal oils and oil colors. Bartner finds this mixture of the two mediums a suitable substitute for the original Liquin made by Winsor & Newton, but without solvent or archival worries.

Auction Preview: Christie's Important American Paintings

2011-11-24T00:10:00.000-05:00

William McGregor Paxton
The Crystal
65 X 72 in.
oil on canvas

I tend to be disappointed by the selections which appear in most auctions of Important American Paintings. After all, "important" is a vastly different description than is the adjective, "good." However, as the pendulum of taste among collectors has begun its arc back towards representational paintings, more and more interesting works have been returning to the market (well, at least interesting to me).

The paintings in the upcoming Christie's sale of Important American Paintings might not be the very best works American painters have to offer, but there are several paintings among the 137 lots which make visiting the previews worthwhile. The Paxton painting alone would be wonderful to see in person, and there are many others by artists such as Frieseke, Inness, and Chase which are of note. Even illustration is represented in this sale, with a commercial piece by Norman Rockwell now being elevated to the vaulted level called "important," a distinction that Rockwell himself would have not likely have expected.

This trend in promoting representational works is encouraging, and it will be interesting to see the results from this auction to see how the sale of these works compares to the prices realized by the Modern pieces in this same auction.

The viewing times for this sale will take place in the Special Exhibition Gallery at Christie's Auction House, 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City. The sale will take place on November 30th at 10:00 AM.

Viewing Times

November 27 / 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

November 28 / 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

November 29 / 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

The catalog can also be viewed online.

Richard Edward Miller
Nude in Interior
34¼ X 36 in.
distemper on panel

Frederick Carl Frieseke
Lady Trying on a Hat
64¼ X 52 in.
oil on canvas

Louis Ritman
In the Garden
36 X 36 in.
oil on canvas

Charles Courtney Curran
In the Orchard
20½ x 9¼ in.
oil on canvas

Granville Redmond
Sunset in the Valley
25 X 30 in.
oil on canvas

George Inness
Hastings
15 X 23½ in.
oil on canvas

Albert Bierstadt
Jungfrau
18 X 27¼ in.
oil on canvas

Frederic Edwin Church
Twilight
13¾ X 22½ in.
oil on canvas tacked to board

William Merritt Chase
Mrs. Eldridge Reeves Johnson
70 X 60 in.
oil on canvas

Thomas Wilmer Dewing
Woman in Black: Portrait of Maria Oakey Dewing
19 X 12¼ in.
oil on panel

John Singer Sargent
Sir Charles Stewart Loch
34½ X 28¼ in.
oil on canvas

Newell Convers Wyeth
Lobstering off Black Spruce Ledge
33½ X 42 in.
tempera on panel

Newell Convers Wyeth
The Husking Bee
33½ X 25 in.
oil on panel

Joseph Henry Sharp
Chief Laban Little Wolf
18 X 12¼ in.
oil on canvas

William Herbert Dunton
The Trail Foreman
20 X 16 in.
oil on canvas

Edward Willis Redfield
Melting Snows
50¼ X 56¼ in.
oil on canvas

Edward Willis Redfield
Center Bridge Farm
32¼ X 38 in.
oil on canvas

Composition of Flesh Color

2011-11-20T22:40:00.000-05:00

In the oddly-specific titled 1904 book, 739 Paint Questions Answered, the publishers of The Painters Magazine offered the following recipe for mixing foolproof caucasian flesh, with only one small caveat:

#15 Flesh color is usually made by mixing French ochre and English vermilion, but the principal requisites are that the painter has the necessary talent to paint faces. (page 9)

The book, which was geared more toward decorators and house painters than the fine artist, also offered advice on other topics, such as how to finish a bowling alley, re-paint a hearse white, climb a flagpole without spurs, and how to paint a locomotive (literally). Though the flesh mixture offered is interesting, the rest of the book seems to serve as more of a curiosity than of any technical help to the fine painter; almost all of the information is out-of-date to everyone but the historical home renovator.

Random Inspiration: Leonid Steele

2011-11-19T23:40:00.000-05:00

Academic painting of a mounted soldier by Leonid Steele

In celebration of Leonid Steele's 90th birthday, Californian painter Alexey Steele, has created a website honoring the artistic achievements of his father, an important figure of 20th century Soviet Art. Covered on the site are the different art periods through which Leonid participated, from his days as a student at the Leningrad Repin Art Institute, through his roles as a Soviet Impressionist in the 1950s, and as a pioneer of the Severe Style in the 1960s. Not only does this tribute catalog the elder Steele's work, all of which is held intact in a single collection, but it also provides a historical overview of the changing face of Realism in the post-World War II Soviet Union through the biography of a single man. Make sure to check the site out, and to read the article on Leonid Steele in an upcoming issue of Fine Art Connoisseur.

Auction Preview: Sotheby's European Paintings

2011-11-18T12:35:00.000-05:00

Joaquín Sorolla
Children in the Sea, Valencia Beach
32 X 41¾ in.
oil on canvas

Going on view today in London are the lots in Sotheby's upcoming auction of European Paintings. Many of these artists are not familiar to American audiences, and searching through the online catalogue offers a glimpse into what was being produced outside the late-nineteenth century art centers of London and Paris.

Previews are as follows:

LONDON

Friday, November 18 / 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Sunday, November 20 / 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Monday, November 21 / 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Ignacio Zuloaga
Madame Souty
57 X 69¾ in.
oil on canvas

Peder Mønsted
Canal in Venice
16 X 24 in.
oil on canvas

Peder Mønsted
Forest Stream
29 X 48½ in.
oil on canvas

Peder Mønsted
Washing Day
9½ X 15 in.
oil on canvas

Peder Mønsted
The Woodland Glade
58½ X 43¼ in.
oil on canvas

Gerhard Munthe
Marigolds
23¼ X 30 in.
oil on canvas

Carl Holsøe
Interior
23½ X 24¾ in.
oil on canvas

Vilhelm Hammershøi
Interior with Ida in a White Chair
22½ X 19¼ in.
oil on canvas

Elif Peterssen
Sunshine, Kalvøya
38¼ X 29½ in.
oil on canvas

Theodoros Ralli
Holy Friday
25¾ X 36½ in.
oil on canvas

Theodoros Ralli
Sleeping Concubine
18½ X 19¼ in.
oil on cnvas

Paul Sieffert
Nu allongé
23¾ X 32 in.
oil on canvas

Petrus Van Schendel
Moonlit Market in the Hague
25½ X 19 in.
oil on panel

Petrus Van Schendel
A Moonlit Vegetable Market
25½ X 19¾ in.
oil on panel

Auguste Bonheur
Paturage en auvergne
9 X 11¾ in.
oil on canvas

Joaquín Sorolla
Field in Asturias, San Esteban de Pravia
26 X 37¾ in.
oil on canvas

Joaquín Sorolla
View of the Jetty in the Retro Gardens, Madrid
6½ X 11 in.
oil on panel

Raimundo de Madrazo
Aline, Reflections
32 X 25½ in.
oil on canvas

Wladislaw Czachorski
The Bouquet
14½ X 9½ in.
oil on canvas

Fernand Toussaint
Elegance
18 X 14¾ in.
oil on canvas board

Charles Chaplin
Fille à la lecture
16½ X 10¼ in.
oil on canvas

Carl Thomsen
The Honeymoon
17 X 12½ in.
oil on canvas

Alexander Koester
Ducks Among Reeds in a Pond
27¼ X 39 in.
pastel on paper

Random Inspiration: Richard E. Miller Part V

2011-11-16T21:50:00.000-05:00

It may come as a surprise to many that Miller’s signature works were not executed in oil paint. For his characteristic “dabs, broad strokes, scraped patches, dry swags and floating flecks of color,”¹¹ the artist instead relied upon a contemporary incarnation of a medium which pre-dated oils: distemper.

Distemper coloring is an ancient water-based medium which is most often associated with mural painting; fresco painters called it secco (Italian for “dry”), and it was used for refining or retouching wall paintings. It consists of dry pigment (almost all those suitable for oil can be used in distemper), mixed with whitingª (ie. calcium carbonate - chalk, limestone, marble) for added body, and then bound with animal gluten (eg. rabbit-skin glue). Distemper dries quickly, though at values lighter than when it was first applied, and when complete, resembles pastels in both color and chalkiness. In the 19th Century, distemper was considered only suitable for home decorating or for theatrical backdrop painting and it was deemed by most as a rather crude and cheap paint, not to be used in fine art painting.

Why Miller chose to work in distemper is uncertain. Its immediacy of use may have been beneficial in capturing, opaquely, the fleeting light effects observable when painting in sunrooms or gardens, and its inexpensiveness may have also been appealing to a young family man. He was far from the only person of the period employing that vehicle, and it is also quite likely that Miller had been inspired to work in distemper because of the works in that medium by such fellow-artists as Nabbi painter Édouard Vuillard, for whose earlier, avant-garde work Miller would have been familiar. Vuillard, nor Miller, applied the distemper in the thin and smooth manner prescribed by fresco painters, and though Miller may have enjoyed the results attained in the medium, he used distemper with a pronounced unconcern for its permanency - to this end, Norman Rockwell once quoted Miller as having declared, “Let the next generation paint its own pictures!”¹²

Wallace Thompson, the Paris correspondent for the Fine Arts Journal, gave this first-hand account of Richard Miller’s method in 1912:

For sketching in he uses plain distemper [ie. dry pigments mixed with glue or size], made fluid with water, and of the general tone of the picture, which in his usual work is almost invariably green. Upon this he builds his painting, using not ground colors and oil but a modern ‘tempera’ whose vehicle is a special emulsion which dries rapidly and permanently, obviating the chemical difficulties of oil paints and yet producing the effect of oils. This is no secret process but a well known product of a German manufacture, which is mentioned to emphasize one distinctly modern phase of Miller’s attitude toward his art, his businesslike adaptation of all conveniences of invention, without hesitancy, and in calm defiance … of all artistic tradition. Like most moderns, Miller has dropped the three paintings of flesh tints, even, and after his first drawing with distemper paints directly, afterwards merely ‘breathing in’ onthe finished work, through many sittings, thickening his paint here and there, piling up his high lights and softening his edges but all upon the perfectly dry surface, and in the end leaving it finished as his last brush-stroke touched it, without the necessity of false values calculating on a final ‘glazing.’ His result is not ‘mud,’ as might have been expected, but a clear vividness of color and atmosphere which are chief characteristics by which he is known.¹³

ªNot all artists working in distemper added whiting to their pigments; some used dry pigment with glue alone, as is likely the case with Richard Edward Miller.

Opening Saturday: Julio Reyes

2011-11-11T23:45:00.000-05:00

Golgatha
oil on linen
27 X 50 in.

Julio Reyes' first solo exhibition with Arcadia Gallery opens Saturday night in New York City with an artist's reception beginning at 4:00 PM. Twenty of this talented young man's' drawings and paintings will be on view, beginning tomorrow, and lasting through November 23rd, in a show that promises to be one of the best of the season.

Golgotha (detail)

First Fall of Snow
graphite on paper
34 X 32 in.

Tread Softly
oil on linen
42 X 63 in.

Red Winds
graphite on paper
23 X 18 in.

O' Tender Heart
oil on linen
41 X 27 in.

The Stars Above
charcoal on paper
34 X 23 in.

The Barrens
oil on copper
10 X 18 in.

Low Moon
graphite on paper mounted on panel
28 X 28 in.

More images of Reyes' work, including in-process pictures, can be found at the Arcadia Gallery Blog, and at Julio Reyes' personal blog.

Afterglow
oil on copper
9 X 18 in.

"The effect from copper is that you get the warmth of the metal playing a
part in the values and temperature of the painting," says Reyes. "It gives
me a whole new way to tell a story. And I like to leave the surface broken
so that you can see the copper shining through. It's a precious metal and
is just beautiful to paint on."¹

Afterglow (detail)

Ascension
oil on linen
26 X 38 in.

Arcadia Gallery is located at 51 Greene Street, between Grand and Broome Streets in SoHo. It is open 10 AM to 6 PM, Monday through Friday, and from 11 AM to 6 PM Saturday and Sunday.

¹ "Longing: Julio Reyes," in American Art Collector, No. 73 (2011), Scottsdale, Vincent W. Miller, Publisher, p. 117.

Random Inspiration: Richard E. Miller Part IV

2011-11-09T00:45:00.000-05:00

With his painting The Chinese Statuette, exhibited at the 1910 Salon, Richard E. Miller revealed the characteristics which would define his art for the rest of his life. The work, a quiet and decorative portrait of a woman, quite possibly his wife, combined virtuosic brushwork and sensuous textures with peculiar color harmonies and sinuous contours.⁶ It prompted Camille Mauclair, the French writer and art critic, to give out the rare praise that Miller was one of only seven foreign artists who were “true painters, serious technicians, sincere, original and sensitive artists.”⁷

The Chinese Statuette

Though Miller’s new direction was not universally admired - the critics who were proponents of Modernism found his paintings too mired in the Academic drawing tradition for their tastes - many lauded his mature work as a “delightful lesson in compromise.”⁸ His complex yet harmonious mixture of draftsmanship, Impressionism, and the radical contemporary palette, allowed him to create ornamental scenes in which the surface of his painting was just as important as the image. In this way, Miller was able to express his belief that “art’s mission is not literary, the telling of a story, but decorative, the conveying of a pleasant optical sensation.”⁹ He may have not been welcomed as a Modernist, nor would he have wanted to be counted among their ranks, but Miller felt his approach placed him amongst a genuine group of modern painters whose responsibility it was to revive the lost science of painting.”¹⁰

[ continued ]

[ part 1 ]

[ part 2 ]

[ part 3 ]