Visit to the Met…

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC for a few hours. For those who are familiar with this amazing museum, you understand that a few hours is not much time at all for a visit. However, I was very focused on the Matisse exhibit that is up now – and though the work of this wonderful impressionist painter is in many collections and easily seen on line and in books, this show was organized around his sense of color and the gathering of similar images of his so that viewers can see the changes that he made while working on an idea. Examples: his paintings of Notre Dame Cathedral moved from very clear and specific to a wonderful wash of blue with a few lines suggesting a building. (apologies for not noting which way the paintings developed). Another of my favorite paintings in the exhibit is a simple table with a bowl of fruit.  The table is tipped forward (in a manner that I have borrowed). The background color of the canvas was an acid blue, Caribbean green – not sure if I can describe it better than that. The colorful fruit is outlined in black and the left side of the canvas is separated by a black, vertical line and wavy horizontal lines running down the side: suggesting wallpaper (as he used in many of his paintings). Matisse used black in many of his paintings / surprising for an artist who is known for colorful canvases. No photos were allowed in this special exhibit and no postcards were available – though I may try to sketch a schema of the table and fruit for a future post.

 

Click here to subscribe via reader or enter your address below for email updates.

Welcome

Welcome to my notes on painting. As I work on ideas, I may post images in process or thoughts on museums I have visited.

This web site includes (mostly) paintings created since my move to Vermont in 2000. Before then, I had a studio at the former Waltham Watch Factory in Waltham, MA for 11 years. While there, I produced ceramics, (hand-built and slip-cast), papier mache furniture, monotypes (single image prints) that may show up on this blog from time to time.

From the paintings now on line, I can replicate most in a smaller size, put an image on cups or stationery. Just ask.

For those not used to visiting an art web site, click on the upper right circle to enlarge the painting - and click again to shrink.

Look for my trading cards coming to this space, soon!

Recent Paintings

Painting of reeds in a pont.
Painting of a sunny beach scene.
Painting of a colorful sky.
Paintings of mountains and the sea.
Painting of a beach.
Painting of a sunset.
Painting of a watery path.
Painting of a walking path along a river.