I have always been impressed by the Ashcan painters, as well as other artists of their circle and influence. John Sloan, George Bellows, Rockwell Kent, Reginald Marsh, and of course Hopper. From a technical point of view, I especially enjoy the gritty color and vigorous brushwork. Depicting figures in a landscape is an exciting challenge to me, and I'm interested to look at how they pull it off. And they did some great night paintings, nocturnes have always fascinated me. They are a challenge to paint. And there's a mood that a night-time urban scene evokes for me... something nefarious. Psychologically, the shadow persona sometimes emerges after dark.
Take "Escondido Liquor Store" for example (from a previous post). I prefer to keep a painting's interpretation open to the viewer, but the figure at that phone booth is either calling his mom for a ride home, or something else shady is about to go down. In this new painting, "Adams Avenue Liquor", the couple is either out for an evening stroll, or perhaps something more debauched is going to take place as the evening progresses.
4 comments:
Tony! Good to see this painting. I like the way the signs light up against the evening sky.
There's also a bit of romance with the couple walking, I'm just sayin'
(and with that evening sky it works pretty darn good!)
Just wanted to mention George Lukes, one of my favorite ashcan artists.
So, these folks out for a stroll. or are they getting a bottle of wine to help enjoy the evening?
Wow this picture is super realistic. I also love how you manage to make the ordinary look extraordinary. A beautiful and amazingly done picture.
Thanks Bill, I think it's a little bit of both :-)
I like George Luks too, and the LA County Museum has a beautiful George Bellows that I've long admired.
Hi Shelley, much appreciated!
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