Cave Realism

The Source of the Loue, ca. 1864
Gustave Courbet (French, 1819 - 1877)
Oil on canvas, 42 _ x 54 1/8"
Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery

One of my favorite paintings during my annual trips to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery over the years. I never knew who painted it until a few years ago. It was always very different from the art I was attracted to, Realism only recently becoming an interest, yet there was always something about this particular painting. The subject of a cave entrance might have much to do with it, peering into the darkness, curious as to what lay beyond (Yay for caving!). Courbet painted this scene a number of times, though this is supposed to be the only one without any figures (http://www.albrightknox.org/ArtStart/Courbet_t.html) which I am inclined to prefer.

I learned more about Courbet in graduate school but still didn't become particularly interested (pretty wrong considering one of my professors is a Courbet scholar) until seeing a retrospective of his work at the Met last spring.

Realistic Time

"Time", 2006
Max Ferguson (b. 1959)
36" x 36" oil on panel

Ferguson produces paintings of a vanishing New York. I discovered Ferguson in a pile of exhibition catalogs that we were selling at our annual book sale. The paintings are impeccable, many are sometimes indistinguishable from photographs. The paintings focus on a New York that Ferguson sees slowly dissipating. They are are monuments to time and place. Uber-realistic they not only capture the technical details of what they sees but are also imbued with emotion and care.

Lavabo

Antonio López García
Sink and Mirror, 1967
Oil on canvas
image: MFA Boston
Exhibition this summer at MFA Boston


My new favorite painter/draughtsman. This man is incredible, his hyper realist work is impeccably empathetic and gorgeous If you can make me swoon over a sink, you simply rock. You can check out many of his works on various sites on the web. Haunting and ethereal, familiar and distant, the study and care that López García puts into bringing his surrounding world to canvas is brilliant.

A Spanish realist painter, López García, is a rock star artist in Spain. His work has not been very widespread in the U.S. (no good excuse will suffice for this) which serves only as a detriment to our artistic senses. Historically, I was never a fan of realist painting, but it turns out I was looking at the wrong artists! You'll see more of it over time, as López García has reminded me of other realist painters that I've discovered over the last few years that have encouraged me to take a second look.

Slate Slide Essay and more images and even more images